Burgundy Farm teachers and foreign language and science program

[Anonymous]

Does anyone here have an opinion about all the new teachers in burgundy's middle school? how about science and foreign languages? I've been told Burgundy offers Spanish and French.... is this a good school?

[Anonymous]

Great!

[Anonymous]

As a current parent, I would rate both programs very highly. The new teacher transitions have been hard on the students, but all of the educators are experienced and love learning. The science and foreign language programs, as mentioned before, are advanced and former students I have talked to rave about how it was one of the best academic experiences of their lives.

[Anonymous]

OP, please consider performing a thorough search on these boards for Burgundy Farm items. You may find that opinions are very much mixed, and that even by the admission of some Burgundy Farm parents, the school is very controversial.

[Anonymous]

They are good.

[Anonymous]

We loved Burgundy. The French teacher, Christine, is fabulous and prepared both of our DCs well for French in high school (one received a 5 in her AP French class junior year, and the other is getting top grades in the subject at Maret). They LOVED Christine, and both say she is one of the best teachers they have ever had.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't say Burgundy is "controversial," I'd say it's a school beloved by many and disliked by a few, which is presumably the case for most schools.

That being said, though we are very happy with Burgundy, I have not been impressed by the language classes in the lower school. I swear that after four years of "French," my kids can hardly say "Bonjour."

I get the impression that in lower school, it's not really language instruction, but rather familiarization: getting the kids used to the sounds, culture and so on. I understand that it gets much better and more serious in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Same lower school and middle school French teacher. She knows what she's doing, and I'm not 21:31. It is getting familiarization and culture and comfort with sounds/language, some reading in lower school. It is not a language immersion program.Then, it explodes in MS. She really knows how to connect the kids with the mechanics and vocabulary of language in a way they retain it and can continue to be successful.

[Anonymous]

I know teachers in the Alexandria Public Schools who have encountered Burgundy Farms students that transfer back to publics. They are almost all, to a student, behind their peers in the publics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know teachers in the Alexandria Public Schools who have encountered Burgundy Farms students that transfer back to publics. They are almost all, to a student, behind their peers in the publics.

I don't really find this assertion surprising or alarming. I chose Burgundy because I wanted my child to have a less rigorous and more developmentally appropriate elementary experience. I knew going in that I wanted him to have lots of playtime outside, lots of group work, lots of art and music and drama, and just a chance to not be in the NOVA ratrace. I wasn't concerned with having him cram as many facts into his head as possible. Childhood is very fleeting and I wanted him to learn all the basics, love school, and avoid experiencing unnecessary stress. Middle school will pick up the pace. Burgundy is a lovely school, but it is certainly not the best place for all children. It is important to really understand your own child as well as your own goals as parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know teachers in the Alexandria Public Schools who have encountered Burgundy Farms students that transfer back to publics. They are almost all, to a student, behind their peers in the publics.

I don't really find this assertion surprising or alarming. I chose Burgundy because I wanted my child to have a less rigorous and more developmentally appropriate elementary experience. I knew going in that I wanted him to have lots of playtime outside, lots of group work, lots of art and music and drama, and just a chance to not be in the NOVA ratrace. I wasn't concerned with having him cram as many facts into his head as possible. Childhood is very fleeting and I wanted him to learn all the basics, love school, and avoid experiencing unnecessary stress. Middle school will pick up the pace. Burgundy is a lovely school, but it is certainly not the best place for all children. It is important to really understand your own child as well as your own goals as parents.

I think this is right. Burgundy really isn't very strong academically, but it has some other strengths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know teachers in the Alexandria Public Schools who have encountered Burgundy Farms students that transfer back to publics. They are almost all, to a student, behind their peers in the publics.

Agreed. It's not uniform (most schools, certainly including Burgundy, have a standout or three every year who do very well, and several recent public high school honors grads had come from Burgundy). But overall, there seemed to be many Burgundy grads doing relatively poorly, or having to be placed in other alternative programs, or being held back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know teachers in the Alexandria Public Schools who have encountered Burgundy Farms students that transfer back to publics. They are almost all, to a student, behind their peers in the publics.

Agreed. It's not uniform (most schools, certainly including Burgundy, have a standout or three every year who do very well, and several recent public high school honors grads had come from Burgundy). But overall, there seemed to be many Burgundy grads doing relatively poorly, or having to be placed in other alternative programs, or being held back.

As a Burgundy parent who knows many many Burgundy alumni, this is just patently false. Do you not have anything better to do than post such inaccurate vitriole on every Burgundy thread???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know teachers in the Alexandria Public Schools who have encountered Burgundy Farms students that transfer back to publics. They are almost all, to a student, behind their peers in the publics.

Agreed. It's not uniform (most schools, certainly including Burgundy, have a standout or three every year who do very well, and several recent public high school honors grads had come from Burgundy). But overall, there seemed to be many Burgundy grads doing relatively poorly, or having to be placed in other alternative programs, or being held back.

As a Burgundy parent who knows many many Burgundy alumni, this is just patently false. Do you not have anything better to do than post such inaccurate vitriole on every Burgundy thread???

Hmmm ... I'm a PP, but not the "I know teachers" poster, but I agree with that post. I know the kids and parents involved (pretty well, actually); there are a number. And I think I said that several Burgundy standouts do quite well after Burgundy, from what I've seen. Not sure how that's "vitriole." If anything, it would seem that there are some controversial views on this school.

[Anonymous]

I'm the parent who said I was not too impressed by the lower school language program. I strongly agree with 09:19, though: I really don't care, because I chose Burgundy for its progressive philosophy, outdoor time, size, nurturing atmosphere, and so on. I do not equate educational quality with quantity of homework or learning some particular body of facts at the same time every public school child learns the same facts. I want my children to be creative, curious thinkers, not robots pre-programmed with a large volume of information.

Will this mean my kids may have a tough time "adjusting" if they someday attend a school that works on very different principles? Maybe, but again, so what? I'm confident that my kids will become happy, successful adults, just as I became one despite a somewhat non-traditional educational background.

That being said, the previous poster claiming that many Burgundy students are being "held back" or otherwise experiencing academic "problems" is spreading unfounded rumors. If you're wondering how Burgundy kids do, you can look at the school's website, which lists high schools and colleges attended by Burgundy grads. PP's vindictive rumor-mongering notwithstanding, the evidence is that most Burgundy kids go on to good high schools and go on from there to good colleges. Luckily for Burgundy grads, it appears that high school and college admissions staff are more appreciative of the value of a Burgundy education that the PP.