January 23, 2015
Constant Comment

Jeff

It was fantastic to participate with my family in Burgundy's Day of Service in honor of the King holiday on Monday! Lower School students also performed projects this week and last week. Congratulations and thanks to the Middle School students and their parents and teachers, staff and administrators who worked together to help our greater community and people in Alexandria as well as thousands of miles away. Special thanks to Charlene Pritzker, Stephanie Borges and Larry Inguagiato for their extra efforts in organizing and supporting Burgundy students' participation in this community service and service learning activity.

 

Speaking of "a day off" really being "a day on," even though students didn't have classes on Friday, Burgundy faculty and staff were still busy working. Each year, we strive to create a school calendar that minimizes unnecessary disruptions to learning, but also contains adequate time for professional work for our faculty and staff. Last Friday, while teachers worked student progress reports that will soon be sent to you, staff and administrators met to review our crisis and emergency management procedures and worked through scenarios to test and improve our readiness for various types of situations. Professional days allow teachers to coordinate vertically about curriculum and developmental milestones; to take training in teaching using innovative and promising, best practice methods; and to address deeper issues such as the ways our schedules and programs best support the developmental needs of children. All of this work requires meaningful chunks of dedicated time.


Many schools have more half or full days dedicated to professional time for teachers. We are looking at best ways to carve out more time in the future, and in the near future that may mean more days or half days dedicated to the faculty and staff. While we do our best every day, we are committed to continually bettering ourselves so we can do an even better job educating your children. We appreciate your support and understanding as we implement this plan to invest in our students by investing in our wonderful faculty's professional development.
Jeff_Signature

Jeff Sindler

Head of School
Coming Up at Burgundy ...

Board Briefs

The Board of Trustees will meet on Saturday, January 24, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Loft. If you plan to attend, please notify Board President Charlie Rawls to ensure adequate seating.

 

Save the Date for Summer Camps

Girl lookingRegistration will open soon for Burgundy's two summer camps--the Burgundy Farm Summer Day Camp on the Alexandria campus and Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies Camp at the Cove.


Summer Day Camp has programs for children age 3 years, 8 months to 12 years. Camp will be in session June 15-August 7 with most programs available on a weekly basis. BCWS Camp has a one-week junior session for ages 8-10 in August; senior sessions for ages 11-15 for two weeks in June, July and August; and an adult weekend for ages 21+ in July.


Learn about Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies Camp with presentations Sunday, February 1, 2 p.m. at the Audubon Naturalist Society, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, Maryland and Saturday, February 7, 11 a.m. here at Burgundy. And get a hands-on preview of new offerings from Burgundy Farm Summer Day Camp at an open house Sunday, February 28, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Burgundy Gym.

 

Auction: Pick a Diamond, Plan a Party

Look for the signs at carpool...Who Do You Know? Where Do You Go? What Do You Have? Auction Items Needed! Learn more.

  

 Many thanks to everyone who has already offered their generous support for this year's auction by soliciting and/or donating an item. Looking for an idea of what to donate? Consider donating a restaurant gift certificate in $100, $50 or $25 denominations. At the auction, each certificate will be sold as a "diamond" in a "pick a diamond" game where everyone wins. Often referred to as "balloon pops," it allows auction attendees to purchase a gift certificate--but the exact restaurant will be a surprise! Always popular among auction goers, the sale is a win/win for financial aid since each certificate is donated. Check out some of the possible "diamonds" (PDF) in this year's collection.


Keep in mind that donations aren't always tangible items, either. At Burgundy, we love experiences! We again hope to offer a variety of events or parties (PDF) catering to various interests and age groups. Be creative! Think about coordinating something with friends. Pick a date, location, number of people possible, and a budget. We can work together to come up with the ideal price per person for attendees.


Want to brainstorm or run an idea by us? Please contact Jacqueline Norris or Nancy Weissman.

- Jacqueline Norris and Nancy Weissman, 2015 Auction Co-Chairs

 

Burgundy Bulletin

Burgundy Brownie troop 1577 is collecting warm winter accessories for the homeless in DC. Items needed include new socks and new (or gently used) hats, gloves and scarves (adult sizes preferred). Students can drop off the items during morning carpool through Thursday, January 29. The girls will sort and organize the items at their next meeting, and will then donate them to the interfaith Capitol Hill Ministry Group.The 2nd grade Brownies thank you very much for your support of their first-ever community service project!


DCMetroTheatreArts recently honored Burgundy 8th grader Katie King, naming her performance as Aggravain in Once Upon a Mattress at Mount Vernon Community Children's Theater as one of the Best Performances in Children's/Family Theatre of 2014. Burgundy music faculty Cathy Manley served as musical director for the play, which was named one of the Best Children's/Family Theatre Productions. See the full list of awards on the DCMetroTheatreArts website. Congratulations, Katie!


Tristan Colaizzi '12, was recently named Gatorade District of Columbia Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. Tristan, now a student at Georgetown Day School, started cross country at Burgundy with Coach Ivana Bulirova. Tristan is also still maintaining an A average in the classroom, and volunteers locally and on service-mission trips. Learn more in Gatorade's press release. Congratulations, Tristan!


Don't Forget!

 
Recently at Burgundy ...
  
Geo Bee 1
Participants in the Geography Bee listen to instructions before the questions begin. More photos on Burgundy's Facebook page. 

 

Geography Bee

A group of Burgundy students from 4th through 8th grades participated in the schoolwide round of the National Geography Bee earlier this week. Questions came from U.S. and world geography, and included a section on identifying relevant data on a map. Eleanor Radke is the Burgundy Geography Bee champion and will move on to the next step, which is a test to determine statewide bee competitors. Congratulations Eleanor, and all participants!

 

MLK Day 1 
Jeff and his family join students and parents sorting t-shirts for Koinonia. More photos on Burgundy's Facebook page.

MLK Jr. Day of Service

Again this year, Burgundy students completed community service projects to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Middle school students met on campus on Monday to participate in some on-campus projects and gather to travel to others in the community, while classes in the Lower School worked their activities into their curricula in the last two weeks. Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman visited Burgundy to observe our students' commitment to community service.

 

This year's projects, organized by Charlene Pritzker, benefited ALIVE (Alexandrians Involved Ecumenically), the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, Bikes for the World, Carpenter's Shelter, Community Lodgings, the Koinonia Foundation, Meade Memorial Episcopal Church, troops deployed in Afghanistan, Wesley Housing, Wright to Read, and Volunteer Alexandria. In a food drive ahead of the service day, Burgundy families donated an incredible 1,400 pounds of food for ALIVE!

 

A sampling of the notes of appreciation the school has received:

"About 5 parents and 9 kids came back to the warehouse and they did a lot of work. They were sweet and wonderful!" - ALIVE


"I would like to thank you sincerely for sparing your valuable time and helping us in our MLK Day Project. I think children and seniors worked very well together and it was a very productive day. I got great feedback from the students as well as from the seniors." - Volunteer Alexandria

Parting Photos

Snow across Burgundy's Alexandria campus on Wednesday.
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