All Parent Meeting: October 8 

Please join us on Tuesday, October 8, at 7:00 p.m. in the Loft for an open discussion with Burgundy leaders, including Jeff and Kari and members of the Board of Trustees. Each parent is an equally important member of the Burgundy Parent Association (BPA), and this meeting is a wonderful opportunity for direct, face-to-face dialogue. Click here to register. 

We welcome donations for the following items, and we are happy to provide a receipt for tax deductions. Unless otherwise noted, please drop off items at the trailer in the Middle School parking lot October 15-17. 

• Kid's Closet: Gently used kids' clothes and toys. We cannot accept electronics, car seats, helmets, pajamas, bathing suits or underwear.
• Scarecrow Stuffing: Old, torn, adult-sized clothing is perfect for scarecrow stuffing!
• Used Book Sale: Used books and media (including DVDs) for adult or child readers.
• Haunted House: Scary decorations that you no longer use will help us transform our Extended Day space into a Haunted House. If you are willing to loan or donate items, please contact Allison Niedbala (allisonn@burgundyfarm.org). 
• Bake Sale: Please drop off individually packaged nut-free cookies, cupcakes, brownies and other goodies at the Admission Office on Friday, October 18 by 3:00 p.m. We will handle pricing, and we encourage festive decorations! (If you can't drop off items on Friday, you may also bring them directly to the Bake Sale, next to the Admission Office, by 10:00 a.m. on the day of the Fair.)

For the fourth consecutive year, Burgundy first-graders are collecting plastic caps. The tops of milk cartons, water bottles, laundry detergent and other containers, which usually cannot be recycled, serve two purposes in the 1st Grade classrooms. First, teachers and students use the caps to practice counting by tens, hundreds and thousands. After counting the caps, students ship them to Aveda, a cosmetic company that recycles the caps for use in their product packaging. Save your caps and bring them to 1st Grade teachers Kira Cotter and Ann Douglas to support these efforts. The most caps we've collected in a single year is 35,000! 

Pictured right: Nia Ashenafi '20 counts bottle caps as a 1st Grade Goat last year.

The Fall Fair is many things: a celebration of and for the Burgundy community; a showcase for prospective students; and a vehicle for our alumni, alumni parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors to reconnect. It is the volunteer commitment of Burgundy parents, students, faculty and staff that makes the Fall Fair possible. On the day of the Fair, students can paint a pumpkin or play a game while parents buy a book or sweets at the Bake Sale, thanks to the efforts of our community coming together. The Fair is one of two events (the other is the Auction in March) whose proceeds support student financial aid. As you make plans to attend the Fair, please remember that your purchases of tickets, chili, used books and more support the school's dedication to diversity, including socioeconomic diversity, as one out of every five Burgundy families receives financial aid. 

Current families and/or faculty and staff members who would like to apply for admission for the 2014-2015 school year for any of their children who are not currently enrolled at Burgundy are encouraged to do so by November 15. Visits for these students will be scheduled in early December. Our online application may be accessed here or on our website under "Admission" in the "Applying to Burgundy" section.  Please feel free to contact Lori Adams (loria@burgundyfarm.org or 703.842.0464) if you have any questions or need assistance with the online application.

On Wednesday, October 23, all Burgundy students will participate in a Help the Homeless Mini Walk at school at 8:35 a.m.  Our walk raises funds for New Hope Housing, a non-profit organization that provides shelter and tools to build a better life for homeless families and individuals in our community. For more than 10 years, we have partnered with New Hope Housing for this annual walk, and we have raised thousands of dollars to support local homeless shelters.

Our goal is to register 250 walkers (students, parents, grandparents, teachers, etc.). If we register 250 walkers, we will earn a $2,500 "walker bonus" for New Hope Housing in addition to the registration fees ($30 for adults; $20 for anyone 25 or younger), 100% of which help our homeless neighbors and are fully tax-deductible. Many parents choose to donate more than $20, and you are welcome to register additional family members, who are welcome to join us for the walk, if you'd like to make an additional contribution toward New Hope Housing (and help us reach our registration goal of 250).

There is a major change to the program this year -- registration MUST be done online BEFORE our walk on October 23! There is no paper registration form. Please click here to register. 

All students will participate in the walk, regardless of whether they have paid a registration fee, so it is important to sign and return this permission form to your child's teacher by Friday, October 11. Please email parent Torun Walker (wtorun@hotmail.com) with any questions. 

The annual t-shirt exchange started when Emma Cullen (class of 2011) realized that every year for the Homeless Walk [see article above] that we never wear the t-shirts we get, and they just lie around all year in our closets collecting dust. She thought that maybe, instead of us getting a million "Help the Homeless" t-shirts that we don't ever use, we could donate shirts and make a difference. However, we can't give the homeless "Help the Homeless' shirts, so we're asking that families donate one or two long-sleeved shirts or a pair of long pants, gently used. As we're going into winter, please do not donate short-sleeved shirts or shorts. There will be boxes around the campus for your donations. Thank you for helping to make a difference!

The month of October is packed with cultural events. Every year the president of the United States signs an executive order designating October as National Italian American Heritage Month, in recognition of the many achievements and contributions made to American culture by persons of Italian heritage. In October there are exhibitions, concerts, various presentations and other events highlighting Polish contributions to America because October is also Polish Heritage Month. October was chosen as Filipino American History Month in 1992 because the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental United States was documented on October 18, 1587. German-American Day is celebrated on October 6 to commemorate the Germanic heritage element of American society; about a quarter of Americans have German ancestry. LGBT History Month is a month-long annual observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history and it is also celebrated in October, along with National Coming Out Day on October 11.

The International Day of Non-Violence is celebrated on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, October 2. Gandhi employed non-violent disobedience as the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Gandhi ushered India into independence through peaceful protests and inspired civil rights movements around the world. Gandhi's model of non-violent protests are peppered throughout the history of the civil rights movement in the United States.

Visit the Inclusivity@Burgundy Haiku page for more information about celebrations of culture.