The Upper School at Oregon Episcopal School offers a rigorous college preparatory program. Our overall mission and purpose is to help our students reach their fullest potential and to prepare them to live in and contribute to our increasingly multicultural, technological, and personally challenging world. We believe that our students learn best by doing. Rather than simply reading summaries in textbooks, students analyze original source documents. They conduct independent scientific research and perform laboratory experiments, experiencing first-hand the theory behind the scientific method. OES graduates are young men and women who are confident in their ability to learn, flexible and creative in their thinking, varied in their interests and abilities, and committed to their families and communities.

Classes at OES are small. With sections averaging 15 students and a student-faculty ratio of 7:1, students are guaranteed quality contact with their teachers. OES faculty members are among the finest in their fields and are recruited nationwide. Through close, personal interactions, our faculty encourages its students to put in the hard work and extra effort needed to attain excellence. Of the forty Upper School instructors, twenty-seven have advanced degrees, including four Ph.D.’s. Mr. Matthew Hanly, Head of School, is well known in educational circles and has more than twenty years of experience as a teacher, school administrator, and school consultant.

Eighty percent of Upper School students at OES play at least one competitive sport. Sports offered to both boys and girls include soccer, basketball, fencing, skiing, cross-country, lacrosse, track and tennis; volleyball is also offered for girls. OES operates on the no-cut policy; there is a team for every level of experience and skill, emphasizing the educational value of striving for excellence and learning to compete.

Extracurricular activities at OES are plentiful. Students may participate in activities including yearbook, newspaper, the School’s Jazz Band or choir, twice-yearly drama productions, and many outdoor/experiential opportunities. Winterim, a program held during the week before spring break, gives students the opportunity to explore subjects of interest not included in the curriculum (past Winterim activities have included quilting, trips to the San Juan Islands and an archaeological dig in New Mexico, and trips to France, Kenya and Japan). The Discovery program is a course that gives seniors the opportunity to spend a week as apprentices at companies and organizations in the community. Activities such as these help students broaden their familiarity with different environments and cultures, learn leadership, cooperation and coping skills, develop a sense of adventure, and gain a sense of the effect they have on the world.

Virtually all OES students attend competitive four-year colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. The School’s college counselors begin working individually with students during their junior year. In the fall, juniors are encouraged to take advantage of the more than 80 college representatives who visit the campus each year, and counselors help students and their parents establish priorities, gather information, and encourage them to visit colleges that are a good match. Recent graduates have attended Bates, Bowdoin, Brown, Colorado College, Dartmouth, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Stanford, Vassar, Willamette, Yale, and the Universities of Chicago, Oregon, Santa Clara and Washington.

Residents of the OES dorm form a close-knit community, and ten dorm parents, including the Director of Residence, live on campus. Boarding students meet for breakfast, attend to their morning jobs, and spend the day in classes and the afternoon in sports and other activities. Dinners are enjoyed together, and evenings are for quiet study. Weekend activities include trips around Portland, outdoor programs, a regular film series, dances, speakers, and performing artists, and observations of birthdays, holidays, and other special occasions.

Over the years international students have come to OES from as far away as Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. Living together as a community in the dorms, international students room with American students so that each student’s boarding experience and global perspective are broadened on a daily basis.

If you are interested in any of our programs and would like to request information, please contact us!

Visit the web site of Oregon Episcopal School.