Please drop off gently used books appropriate for Junior Kindergarten through 8th Grade readers at morning carpool or in the Middle School Atrium Monday, April 21, through Thursday, April 24. Middle School students will sort the books by approximate grade level on April 24, and on Friday, April 25, all students will visit the Atrium at times convenient to their schedules to choose a "new" book. All books not chosen by Burgundy students will be donated to book swaps at Alexandria City Public Schools, where many children would not otherwise have books for summer reading. We are coordinating this collection and Book Swap in conjunction with Wright to Read as part of our Earth Week celebrations. 

Seventy-five years ago The Wizard of Oz debuted on the big screen, and on Thursday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m., the eighth-graders will debut the musical on Burgundy's stage in the Loft. In researching topics and themes from the story, from tornadoes to Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Great Depression, the students not only learned the preparation process for actors, but also the reason that this story has become one of the most beloved tales in American history.

 

"In their research and presentations, the students realized that this fanciful story of hope offered viewers a powerful escape," said Deborah Clark-Ives, Director of Performing Arts. "The overall notion is that each one of us, deep down, has exactly what we need to get through hard times. That's a message that continues to resonate and inspire."

 

In true Burgundy fashion, the production is altered to highlight various student skills and give ample opportunity for student leadership. For instance, the lead of Dorothy will be accompanied by Gale, her fraternal twin sister; and the Wicked Witch will perform a song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Wizard of Oz. Behind the scenes, students are also filling the roles of stage manager, costume designer, dance captain, and more.

 

"It's well-suited for the Burgundy community, too, in that you can always go home again and you can always lean on family," said Deborah. "'Family' might be a farm hand, or an uncle, or a dog -- or perhaps even friends and teachers and classmates. It's fitting for this class to perform this musical just weeks before their graduation. It's a reminder that they can always come back home to Burgundy." 

April is National Poetry Month, and many students are celebrating during their Library time in a variety of ways. Last week, Junior Kindergarten students read the poem "Color Me A Rhyme," by Jane Yolen, then made a group poem by walking outside to observe the exciting colors outdoors and recording their thoughts with Librarian Barbara Krainik. Similarly, Kindergarten students read poems about trees (while sitting under a tree, of course)! The 2/3 classes enjoyed using book titles on the spines of books to create short poems of their own (see the example from Emma Carter '19 and Anjani Waters '19, pictured above and written below). Activities will continue next week for the 1st Grade classes, and we encourage everyone to celebrate at home as well! 

 

From One to One Hundred

Stars

I Know the Moon

Ready to Dream

Congratulations to Ahmei Thevoz '14, who had an incredible educational and cultural experience when she represented Virginia as a Jr. Cherry Blossom Princess at the National Cherry Blossom Festival last weekend. She attended an array of events, including a luncheon with the Ambassador at the Royal Thai Embassy, High Tea at the Embassy of Lithuania, a Taste of the States Dinner at the Officers Club, as well as the Cherry Blossom Grand Ball. She met many people from all 50 states and quite a few countries.

The April 2014 issue of the Children Online newsletter has just come out and is available to Burgundy parents through the "Quick Link" in their Haiku portal.  The theme of this month's newsletter is "Smart Phones Do Not Make Smart Kids."

 

Here are two extracts:

 

Parents often leave important technology decisions to their kids.  Without cultural, legal and educational information readily available to parents, parents today, often defer technology decisions to their children.  A simple rule in your home should be that parents are in charge of all technology decisions.   While our kids may be very tech savvy, they are too often naïve about the consequences and implications of electronic communication....

 

While we do not recommend Smart Phones for kids in Middle School, there are ways to help make the phones less risky.  Take off texting.  12 year olds do not need texting.  Take the phone every night and check any activity.  Limit phone use to public locations in the home and carefully limit the time spent on their phone. Do not allow the phone to leave the home except in special safety related circumstances. Consider parental controls for Smart Phones including: Mobicip or Phone Sheriff.

The Cove program has had many iterations since 1968. After 17 years of variation and experiment, David and I have a good sense of what works for the largest proportion of the population involved. 

 

We decided to get out of our little cove and look around. For the last two years, we and Madeline Evans '07 have been visiting similar programs, interviewing our counterparts there, and sharing philosophies and protocols. 

 

The outdoor education component at Burgundy is unique. While many schools send students to an outdoor education program, very few have their own facility.  Therefore, most programs are a set menu, cannot integrate with the classroom program, and usually can provide only one trip within a child's entire school career.  We truly do have something special! 

 

Most schools do not send parent chaperones at any grade level, or if they do, the ratio is 1 chaperone: 10 students. In most programs where parents are present, they do not attend all of their own children's workshops, so that the children are free to take calculated risks, stretch their comfort zones, and develop self-confidence and independence. If this works in programs in which some parents never even see the facility, and the children only visit once, our program has potential in this regard.   

 

Adults in every family participate at the 1st Grade level and will continue to have opportunities to join in throughout later years, but as announced at the All School Meeting on February 11, we are going to be increasing the number of hired staff and decreasing the number of parent chaperones on trips for Grades 2-8. We will also require that chaperones remain for the entire trip. To help segue into the changes we are instituting, we are asking that families in Grades 3-7 who sent a representative in the fall with a particular grade consider not sending a family member as chaperone this spring. Having experienced the place, and knowing your peers, you have the basis to trust that your child is in safe, capable hands and to let them attend without a family member.   

 

We feel that including parents at the Cove is consistent with the Alexandria program. We revel in the community and the special friendships that have developed, and are grateful to be able to throw in some adult environmental education on the side. But most parents have jobs outside of the home, and missing work to attend all Cove trips has been a stress. The carbon footprint of so many cars driving back and forth to the environmental education program is an irony. Most important, we have an unusually safe, well-staffed situation in which to give the children room to exercise self-reliance. 

 

All parents with children in Grades 2-7 are receiving emails explaining further details and requests relevant to your trip. As always, we'll welcome your thoughts and suggestions as we carry out these changes.

Thanks to everyone who has already made their pledges or donations toward Burgundy's Annual Giving Fund. You've raised $217,527 to date, 87% 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) for more information. We hope you will take a moment to make a donation today. 

Thank you.

Burgundy's Board of Trustees will meet on Saturday, April 19, in the Middle School Atrium beginning at 9:15 a.m. If you plan on attending, please email Board President Holly Sloan (smithsloan@aol.com), so that we may ensure there is enough seating.