How Strong is Burgundy Farm Country Day Academically?

[Anonymous]

Not protesting, responding with objective information. People are criticizing hs placement, curriculum, etc..., anonymously, so I'm refuting some of those assertions. Would you prefer I just make a bunch of factually inaccurate statements based on hearsay? why not, it's anonymous right.

OP at a minimum you should keep the nature of this forum in context. Anonymous = no accountability = say whatever you want with no repercussions.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you should talk to the Lower School head and AD about your questions. They will be happy to answer them. And if your DC gets in and you are still considering the school, sit in on some classes and ask to speak to current parents about your concerns. Good luck. I am sure you will find the right place for your child.

[Anonymous]

OP if your DC is a current applicant for 2012 - 2013 you should have received a list of parents that are happy to discuss all things Burgundy.

[Anonymous]

I am a current Burgundy parent and a prior poster. I am not unhappy, just realistic about what Burgundy offers. I don't see factual inaccuracies in this thread. As someone else posted, Burgundy is not an "academic" school and does not purport to be one. It does a good job of nurturing the "whole child" which is its stated mission, but it is not known for top-notch academics. I don't have a problem with that characterization. In order for families to be satisfied at Burgundy they need to understand exactly what their child(ren) will and will not be getting in and out of the classroom. Parents will be a lot happier with the school if they understand what they are buying upfront and chose that environment specifically for its strengths and weaknesses. It is important to have a healthy dose of realism and not be overly invested emotionally in any private school community.

[Anonymous]

Here is some factual info on some HS and college placements from Burgundy:

Class of 2011 8th grade grads HS placements (numbers in parenthesis indicated number of students):
TC Williams (6)
West Potomac (4)
Thomas Jefferson (2)
St. Stephens & St. Agnes (2)
Episcopal (2)
The Field School (2)
Bishop Ireton
GDS
Edmund Burke
Flint Hill
Holton Arms
Hotchkiss
George School
Loomis Chaffee
Maderia
Thomas Edison High School
Sidwell
South County Secondary School
Walt Whitman

31 students total with 15 reporting attending public high schools. The majority attending public school report attending TC Williams.

Class of 2007 College Attending:
Juniata
Radford
Univ. of Arizona
Lynchburg (2)
Penn State
Univ. of Toronto
Christopher Newport Univ
Macalester College
Univ. of Vermont
Ponoma College
Lackawanna Junior College
Appalachian State Univ
Duke (2)
Emerson
Wesleyan Univ
James Madison
George Mason
NOVA Comm College
Univ. of Colorado
VA Tech
Middlebury
Vassar
Sandhills Community College
Sewanee
Bowdoin
Haverford

3 students report as "Gap Year" which I take to mean they are not going to college.

Of the 2007 Class of 8th grade graduates, 9 graduated from TC Williams. Only one graduated from a "Big 3" (Maret). The rest of the students attended public schools, other privates (Flint Hill, Field, Bullis), and Catholic School.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thought the discussion was very calm and measured until the 14:23 posting. None of the PP's came across to me as "Burgundy Haters," just people who had various opinions and facts.

For those who suggested I talk to current parents and the AD, the Burgundy culture seems very close-knit and cohesive, which is wonderful. I've talked to a number of parents, and they are enthusiastic and positive. However, my discussions have not been that helpful; they're too colored with feelings about how great the school has been for that particular parent/family. I guess that's fair. You can't expect parents to necessarily be objective about the schools they've invested in both financially and emotionally.

I don't get the sense that questions about Burgundy's pedagogical practices are joyfully received by the administration. I don't want to be labeled a problem parent. While BFCD might not be right for eldest DC, it could be for other DCs, so don't want to alienate anyone.

I'm mildly curious as to whether Burgundy would have put 14:59 on the list for prospective parents to call. 14:59 sounds much more measured and objective than the parents I've talked to. You must be a rare breed of Burgundy parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. 10:16, your previous post is very thoughtful and helpful in teasing out whether BFCD is the right school for our DC. Thank you. I fear DC is the type of gifted child that will love getting extra recess time.

As a parent, my dilemma is trying to figure out if it's okay just to let this be or whether we should encourage (rather than push) DC to do more with said gift. Ideally, we'd like a balanced environment where there's strong encouragement to excel and challenge oneself, without that turning into an excessively pressured environment where grades are all.

Which do you think are the schools that are better "geared for their level of ability right from the get go"? In particular, are there schools with teaching environments that encourage doing one's best and challenging one's self, rather than competition with others? We want to avoid schools that foster a zero sum game approach to academics.

Hello OP. I should say upfront that my child is definitely NOT extraordinarily bright ... just normal above-average bright and exceedingly cute. Thus, I am not the best person to tell you what schools would be best geared to meet your child's needs! I know there are schools out there that make such claims, Nysmith for example, but I have no firsthand knowledge of that school or any other private in our area for that matter. A school that encourages students to do their best, challenge themselves, and not compete nor worry about grades? Well, Burgundy says those types of things all the time but so do many other schools. It is an admirable goal for sure.

The one thing I would say to you is that it is pretty difficult to determine what type of learner you have when choosing a school for a 3-5 year old. ALL little kids start out loving school and thus will be highly motivated and engaged under almost any scenario. It's not until around 4th grade that a child's personal level of motivation to work hard will be truly knowable. At that point, you may need to reassess your school choice no matter which school you settle on. I know some parents who choose a school that goes all the way through 12th grade just to avoid having to go through the terrible application process all over again at 4th, 6th or 8th ... yet again, selecting a school that is just the right "fit" for a child for all those years when you're looking at a 3 year old ... what are the odds you'll be completely happy all the way through to college?! I also predict that your child will be heavily influenced by YOU as to whether school is fun, interesting, and worthy of investing personal effort. Acorns don't fall that far from the tree and you are clearly someone who is thoughtful, engaged, and interested in a balanced approach to schooling and life. Your child will learn those same skills and outlooks from home, I am certain. Burgundy certainly makes learning fun and engaging ... children "extend" their learning all the time without realizing that they are doing so. And that's the secret, in my opinion: to encourage a love of learning and seeking new information just for the joy of knowing something new. Wanting to go to school everyday is half the battle won. And since I volunteer in the school library, I can tell you that nearly all Burgundy students devour books ... they truly love to read. I have no idea how that might compare with other schools but it has to be a good thing.

I can only speak about Burgundy but there are many wonderful schools in our area and I imagine you will find many choices that will provide your child an excellent education. So take a look at what each school can offer and be sure to include "time to smell the flowers" as part of your criteria.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you can tell quite a bit about the type of family that is attracted to Burgundy from the responses on this thread. One of the most wonderful things about Burgundy, I've found, is the Burgundy community. You'll be spending more time with other parents than you would at another school, due to trips to the Cove (parents accompany children on twice-a-year overnight trips to our West Virginia campus for curriculum-based outdoor activities). The parents, as a general rule, are extremely interested in providing their children with enriching experiences, both in and out of the classroom. They are, for the most part, keenly interested in education and child development (I, for example, have gone back to school to get a master's in education). I think this attitude towards learning is reflected in the kids that go to Burgundy. Many of them are very self-motivated and curious about the world around them. While no school is perfect, I have never second-guessed our decision to send our children to Burgundy.

[Anonymous]

I'm mildly curious as to whether Burgundy would have put 14:59 on the list for prospective parents to call. 14:59 sounds much more measured and objective than the parents I've talked to. You must be a rare breed of Burgundy parent.

Thank you, OP. You are right, I would not be on the call list, precisely because I do not subscribe to group think. Objectivity is good in any situation and it is easy to lose that objectivity for the many of the very reasons stated by 21:17. Good luck in your search. You are obviously, thoughtful, open-minded and in-tune to the needs of your children. I am sure that you will make the best decision for you and your family.

[Anonymous]

OP, this is from a former Burgundy parent. We withdrew our DC after frankly being disappointed by the academics. We are aware of five Burgundy kids withdrawn at the same time, all of whom had received excellent academic reports at Burgundy, and most of whom were materially behind-standard at the schools into which they were transferred.

In hindsight, we should have recognized that the absence of multiple-choice tests, the fact that the kids are seated only at group-tables for nearly the entire program, the avoidance of any traditional grading, and other classroom practices signal a very much non-traditional acadmic program.

My personal opinion is that the "Burgundy community" was actually quite normative and invasive, and it certainly didn't make up for an academic program that was quite alarming. The environmental sensitivity was, in my opinion, cosmetic and not really reflected in administration and faculty actions.

Please consider Burgundy's own information -- what looks like a large number of graduates (proportionate to a small-class private school) seem not to enter traditional high schools and/or attend conspicuously low-visibility colleges, and demonstrate other departures from the academic track you'd see better public school kids embrace.

[Anonymous]

Very helpful to get several perspectives!

[Anonymous]

If you want your child to be assessed using multiple choice tests, and to sit at desks in rows, then Burgundy is not the place for your family. However, multiple-choice tests are a very poor yardstick of student achievement. As it has been said "they do not measure the ability to write, to use math, to make meaning from text when reading, to understand scientific methods or reasoning, or to grasp social science concepts. Nor do these tests adequately measure thinking skills or assess what people can do on real-world tasks."

[Anonymous]

I absolutely love Burgundy and I can see my DC flourishing before my eyes. DC has a 135 IQ (I know, "average" in this area...) and has not been bored yet. DC is a very curious kid and likes to learn in unconventional ways. I have no inclination of having DC in a school similar to the one I went to (competitive with a heavy homework load - very strict) so I did not end up there by chance.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Burgundy parent (new poster to this thread). I honestly have no idea if Burgundy kids do better or worse on standardized tests than any other kids, and I have no idea how the curricul compares to other VA public schools or DC privates. All I can say-- and frankly all I really care about, for elementary school kids-- is that the kids seem happy, curious, engaged, friendly, and so on. I think that once kids have the core basics (reding, riting and 'rithmatic, as they used to say), the precise content of elementary education is really irrelevant. Far more important are habits of mind: that is, attitude towards learning and ability to seek help and additional information.

Burgundy isn't perfect, but we're pretty happy that it does those good things. Both DH and I are ivy grads-- we certainly value education. But we could care less about the test scores and excisions stats. The kids are all right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I know parents who send their kids there who were pissed to discover they were using the same curriculum as Alexandria City Public Schools (i.e., Everyday Math).

I don't have a child that attends Burgundy Farms, but I found this comment funny. The reason is when I was researching kindergartens for my child, I found out that ACPS, FCPS, Potomac, SSSAS, Burgundy, Browne, Alexandria Country Day, and Langley School all use Everyday Math for elementary school.

I know Everyday Math has its critics, but it has achieved widespread acceptance in both Northern Virginian public and private school and shouldn't be the basis to make a claim that a particular school's academics is inferior.