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Burgundy Farm Country Day School
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January 11, 2013
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Quick Calendar
| January 11
Pizza Day
Varsity Boys' Basketball (Red) Practice
January 13
Open House
January 14
Varsity Boys' Basketball (Red) vs. ACDS (home)
January 15
JV Boys' Basketball Practice
JV Girls' Basketball Practice
January 16
Learning Against the Grain Discussion
Varsity Boys' Basketball Practice (Red and Black)
Varsity Girls' Basketball Practice
January 17
JV Boys' Basketball Practice
JV Girls' Basketball Practice
January 18
Martin Luther King Day of Service Celebrated at Burgundy
January 19
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Inauguration Day
School Closed
January 22
JV Boys' Basketball Practice
JV Girls' Basketball Practice
January 23
Varsity Boys' Basketball (Black) vs. ACDS (home)
Varsity Girls' Basketball vs. ACDS (home)
January 24
JV Boys' Basketball vs. Browne Academy
JV Girls' Basketball vs. Browne Academy
January 25
Pizza Day
Varsity Boys' Basketball (Red) Practice
Click here for a full calendar.
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 Greetings! Welcome back, and a belated but sincere Happy New Year!
I hope you enjoyed some restful time with your family over the break. At our home, we enjoyed the holidays through the eyes and imagination of a two-and-a-half-year-old! I am treasuring each day, each season and each rite of passage with our little person. That is something so special about being a parent, and we have the same pleasure here at school in celebrating the learning journey with each student.
It's been a busy first week back. We can see students and teachers all are excited to return to Burgundy. The smiles and bright eyes at Monday morning carpool reminded me of why I've enjoyed 25 years of working in schools! In all my years I've never seen students and teachers who are happier to be at school than at Burgundy. That happiness tends to stay with our graduates as they move on to high school and college and through the stresses of adolescence. Joy is an important component of wellness and life success, I believe, and it arises from being in situations that are engaging, nurturing and equally challenging and supportive in developmentally-appropriate ways. We are reminded all the time, by our Burgundy graduates and their parents, that this joy and engagement is so foundational to the remarkable success our graduates experience.
Welcome back to another great year at Burgundy,
Jeff Sindler Head of School Mindful of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday (see the note about our Day of Service below) and also of the fact that Burgundy was the first integrated school in Virginia, I was excited to see on the Burgundy Facebook page a special recognition of Camay (Brooks) Murphy, our first African American teacher. Camay taught at Burgundy in the early 1950s and remains a wonderful, vibrant woman. She was recently selected by the Maryland Department of Aging as this month's Extraordinary Senior Citizen. She was recognized for her zest for life and commitment to the arts. Read more here. |
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Martin Luther King Day of Service: January 18
In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday as a national Day of Service. Since then, it has become a day when Americans join together and lend helping hands to improve our nation as well as our relationships with one another. It is a day that honors the legacy of a great man who gave his life for the equal rights of all men and women.
Because the holiday this year falls on the same day as Inauguration Day (January 21, 2013), we have decided to honor Dr. King with a Day of Service on Friday, January 18. Our entire student body and teaching faculty will complete various service projects for the greater community. We will start this Day of Service with an interactive and joyous assembly in the Gym beginning at 8:45 a.m., and everyone is invited to attend. Lower School students will spend parts of the morning participating in their community service projects, and Middle School students will participate in their community service projects in the afternoon. If you haven't already, you will hear more about how your student will be supporting various causes through class-specific projects (such as making care packages for service members, "adopt me" bandanas for animal shelters, etc.) from your Room Parent.
We will not gather at school on Monday, January 21 (reminder: Burgundy is closed on January 21), but we encourage everyone to take a moment that day to reflect on how your life impacts those around you. We hope you will spend this Martin Luther King Jr. Day working toward creating a better world.
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January is National Thank You Month
Visit the Diversity Haiku page to learn more about National Thank You Month and other cultural, religious and social events. Some of the topics we'll highlight this month include:
- January 1: Ellis Island Opened (1892)
- January 6: Three Wise Men Day (Latin America, Spain, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic)
- January 11: National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (USA)
- January 14: Makara Sankranthi (Festival of Harvest in India)
- January 16: Religious Freedom Day
- January 26: Australia Day
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Learning Against the Grain
Exploring the academic and socio-emotional implications of being a different learner
Join Elizabeth Schachter, School Counselor, and Stephanie Borges, Director for an Inclusive Community/Middle School Learning Support Coordinator, in a conversation about learning at Burgundy. We will explore various topics including, but not limited to: what homework time looks like; managing expectations from various teachers; differentiated education at Burgundy; and how it feels to learn differently as an adolescent.
This meeting of the minds will take place on Wednesday, January 16 at 8:40 a.m. in the Library. Refreshments will be available. If you are interested in attending please register with Stephanie (stephanieb@burgundyfarm.org or 703.842.0465).
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January Book Talk: Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Please join us for our next book talk on Haroun and the Sea of Stories. If the 7th Grade play delighted you, or you simply could use a good fanciful read, we invite you to read and discuss this young adult novel by Salman Rushdie. Discuss the book with teachers Tom Kim and Stephanie Borges, as well as other parents, on Monday, January 28 at 8:40 a.m. in the Library. Enjoy snacks and a stimulating discussion!
If you are interested in attending, please register with Stephanie (stephanieb@burgundyfarm.org or 703.842.0465).
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| Sports Update
Congratulations to our Varsity Girls' and Varsity Boys' (Black) Basketball teams, who played their first games this week against Trinity Meadowview on Wednesday. Both teams played hard and enjoyed theirs games. The girls lost 35-6 and the boys lost 46-34.
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Auction Solicitation Meeting: January 17
We are so excited to begin preparing for Burgundy's 2013 Auction, which is an annual event to raise money for financial aid. This year's event will be held on Saturday, March 9 in the Gym, and the theme is "A Walk in the Woods: The Burgundy Dream." We all know what a dream it is to be a part of this wonderful community, and the Auction makes that dream accessible for so many of us by raising critical funds to support financial aid. We will be hosting a meeting on Thursday, January 17 at 2:00 p.m. in the West Barn Conference Room (just above the JK and Kindergarten classrooms) to discuss auction solicitations. We will also gladly answer any other questions you may have about this wonderful event and help you identify the best way to get involved. We know there are many talented parents in our community who can bring wonderful ideas to the table, and we hope that you will join us, so that we can work together to make this event a success.
You will continue to hear more updates about the Auction in the coming weeks. If you have any questions about the Auction between now and March 9, please feel free to contact us at any time: Amy Heist ( amy.heist@us.army.mil) or Amanda Traub ( alwasik@aol.com). We hope to see you at the meeting on January 17, and we look forward to celebrating the event with you on March 9. - Amy Heist and Amanda Traub, 2013 Auction Co-Chairs
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Annual Giving Heats Up 
Thanks to everyone who has already made their pledges or donations toward Burgundy's Annual Giving Fund. You've raised $159,395 to date, 63% of our $250,000 goal. Annual Giving is our most critical fundraising effort of the year, and it supports program and instruction, financial aid and professional development.
Please contact Director of Advancement Jen Pusatere (jenp@burgundyfarm.org or 703.842.0466) to ask for more information or to make a donation.
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Burgundy Bulletin
The Ban Band: Burgundy Family Supports Sandy Hook
In an effort to contribute to the families of the Sandy Hook tragedy in Newtown, the Casagrande family has created "The Ban Band," a simple wristband modeled after the LiveStrong bands. The words "Remember Newtown" are on one side of the bracelet, and the web address www.thebanband.org is on the other side with a symbol suggesting the banning of assault weapons. You can purchase the bands for $3 at www.thebanband.org. Fifty percent of profits will go to Newtown, Connecticut, and the other 50 percent of profits will benefit the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence.
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