Burgundy Farms Middle—please share your experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had kids at both SSSAS and Burgundy for MS. SSSAS was the far better experience both socially and academically. There is absolutely no comparison.

SSSAS has a block schedule, PE or athletics (7/8) 4x a week, an hour for lunch and recess and a daily STAT period to meet with teachers. I actually found it to be more progressive in how they teach and the projects they have the kids do. The faculty and administrators at SSSAS are much stronger than those at BFCDS and they actually teach the kids executive function skills. There are also close to 100 kids in a grade versus 25-30 at BFCDS which makes it a much better environment socially. You will find your people.

If your kid is even slightly outside whatever current middle schoolers consider “normal” or “popular”, Burgundy Farm is absolutely the better choice. SSSAS is filled with cliques and desire for popularity is a real thing. This just isn’t a thing at Burgundy and the kids remain younger in their interests (not much into name brand clothes, “dating”, etc.) as a result.

I will echo that. My child was there for a middle school. Overall the experience was ok. Some really great teachers and some not so good ones. Went on to public high school. The writing instruction was way superior than anything in public middle schools from what I could tell. The class sizes are small so if your child doesn't find a couple of friends and stick with them it can be an issue. Not to the degree where they are bullied or made fun of outright but just not included much in non classroom and non school activities.

Sorry, just to clarify - you are saying you found that the writing instruction at Burgundy was better than public middle school? Or it was better at public HS than public MS?

Yeah I am confused as well

Sorry for the confusion - what I meant was my child is now in public HS. The students who came from public MS seemed to get almost no writing instruction. Even in advanced classes in HS teachers were teaching the very basics of paragraph writing which shocked me. At Burgundy, by 8th grade my child wrote a literary analysis essay that was a couple of pages long. So I felt the writing instruction was solid at Burgundy compared to what would have been offered at public MS.
HTH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a question about grade inflation at Burgundy. Do they give grades lower than Bs?

I ask because my daughter's been making As and Bs all the way through, and she's a good student, but I've never heard a parent say their kid got anything below a B there. Makes me wonder, that's all.

Oh yeah they definitely inflate grades for sure especially at the beginning of the year because they put a lot of emphasis on effort and they don't want kids to get discouraged. And they do give grades lower than a B but they give chances to do over. By the end of the year, I did notice slightly tougher grading standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had kids at both SSSAS and Burgundy for MS. SSSAS was the far better experience both socially and academically. There is absolutely no comparison.

SSSAS has a block schedule, PE or athletics (7/8) 4x a week, an hour for lunch and recess and a daily STAT period to meet with teachers. I actually found it to be more progressive in how they teach and the projects they have the kids do. The faculty and administrators at SSSAS are much stronger than those at BFCDS and they actually teach the kids executive function skills. There are also close to 100 kids in a grade versus 25-30 at BFCDS which makes it a much better environment socially. You will find your people.

If your kid is even slightly outside whatever current middle schoolers consider “normal” or “popular”, Burgundy Farm is absolutely the better choice. SSSAS is filled with cliques and desire for popularity is a real thing. This just isn’t a thing at Burgundy and the kids remain younger in their interests (not much into name brand clothes, “dating”, etc.) as a result.

This is 100% true. The type of kid you have matters a LOT. SSAS and BFCDS are almost polar opposites when it comes to teen culture. I know this directly from personal experience with my kids and very close friends kids. SSSAS is very sporty, lots of cliques. BFCDS is very much a school where quirky doesn't even get blinked at. I have one friend who's kid left SSSAS after 8th grade after being intentionally cyber targeted by a group of girls in 8th grade. When asked why they did it, the answer was literally "no reason, we just all decided we didn't like her anymore". It was like something out of a bad movie or a sensationalistic news story. It was horrific for the poor girl involved.

Be aware though that is not limited to a single private school. This happens all the time in private schools where you have a cohort of kids who go through school together and the classes are small. The same story could be told at any private school in the area including religious schools. It's just something that happens in private schools. It happened in the one I attended growing up as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now if Burgundy Farm just brings back a bus option, everything will be very nearly perfect again.

I was curious about that—does it just go to Braddock Road? How much is it? Any hope for next year that it will be back?

The bus service is through SSSAS, so it is pretty extensive. I think the return of bus service is up to SSSAS. It also includes Browne, so it mixes a lot of kids from several schools which may be an issue until everyone can be vaccinated. There is also a bus from Capitol Hill that is parent organized with their van and driver. This has run throughout Covid.

New to Burgundy this year and disappointed about the lack of transportation. In the past when they had bus service, was it door-to-door? Wonder what the pick up times were like in the morning?

Thinking back to The Before Times: Service was door-to-door, and our pickup time was around 7:15. I really, really, really miss the bus.

Any current parents who can speak to if there is discussion/plans to reistate now that vaccinations are happening?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now if Burgundy Farm just brings back a bus option, everything will be very nearly perfect again.

I was curious about that—does it just go to Braddock Road? How much is it? Any hope for next year that it will be back?

The bus service is through SSSAS, so it is pretty extensive. I think the return of bus service is up to SSSAS. It also includes Browne, so it mixes a lot of kids from several schools which may be an issue until everyone can be vaccinated. There is also a bus from Capitol Hill that is parent organized with their van and driver. This has run throughout Covid.

New to Burgundy this year and disappointed about the lack of transportation. In the past when they had bus service, was it door-to-door? Wonder what the pick up times were like in the morning?

Thinking back to The Before Times: Service was door-to-door, and our pickup time was around 7:15. I really, really, really miss the bus.

Any current parents who can speak to if there is discussion/plans to reistate now that vaccinations are happening?

No idea. I think it’s ultimately up to SSSAS since it’s their buses used for transportation. Even though the vaccination process is starting for younger kids, it will still be a little while until all kids are fully vaxxed (and the JK kids at Burgundy may still be too young). Haven’t heard of any plans to reinstate the buses. Sure would be a nice perk though! Driving takes a good chunk of time out of our days. Worth it for the school, but a bus would be so nice for more flexibility!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now if Burgundy Farm just brings back a bus option, everything will be very nearly perfect again.

I was curious about that—does it just go to Braddock Road? How much is it? Any hope for next year that it will be back?

The bus service is through SSSAS, so it is pretty extensive. I think the return of bus service is up to SSSAS. It also includes Browne, so it mixes a lot of kids from several schools which may be an issue until everyone can be vaccinated. There is also a bus from Capitol Hill that is parent organized with their van and driver. This has run throughout Covid.

New to Burgundy this year and disappointed about the lack of transportation. In the past when they had bus service, was it door-to-door? Wonder what the pick up times were like in the morning?

Thinking back to The Before Times: Service was door-to-door, and our pickup time was around 7:15. I really, really, really miss the bus.

Any current parents who can speak to if there is discussion/plans to reistate now that vaccinations are happening?

No idea. I think it’s ultimately up to SSSAS since it’s their buses used for transportation. Even though the vaccination process is starting for younger kids, it will still be a little while until all kids are fully vaxxed (and the JK kids at Burgundy may still be too young). Haven’t heard of any plans to reinstate the buses. Sure would be a nice perk though! Driving takes a good chunk of time out of our days. Worth it for the school, but a bus would be so nice for more flexibility!

Crazy thought: Maybe Burgundy could get its own bus? C'mon, Burgundy.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had kids at both SSSAS and Burgundy for MS. SSSAS was the far better experience both socially and academically. There is absolutely no comparison.

SSSAS has a block schedule, PE or athletics (7/8) 4x a week, an hour for lunch and recess and a daily STAT period to meet with teachers. I actually found it to be more progressive in how they teach and the projects they have the kids do. The faculty and administrators at SSSAS are much stronger than those at BFCDS and they actually teach the kids executive function skills. There are also close to 100 kids in a grade versus 25-30 at BFCDS which makes it a much better environment socially. You will find your people.

If your kid is even slightly outside whatever current middle schoolers consider “normal” or “popular”, Burgundy Farm is absolutely the better choice. SSSAS is filled with cliques and desire for popularity is a real thing. This just isn’t a thing at Burgundy and the kids remain younger in their interests (not much into name brand clothes, “dating”, etc.) as a result.

This is 100% true. The type of kid you have matters a LOT. SSAS and BFCDS are almost polar opposites when it comes to teen culture. I know this directly from personal experience with my kids and very close friends kids. SSSAS is very sporty, lots of cliques. BFCDS is very much a school where quirky doesn't even get blinked at. I have one friend who's kid left SSSAS after 8th grade after being intentionally cyber targeted by a group of girls in 8th grade. When asked why they did it, the answer was literally "no reason, we just all decided we didn't like her anymore". It was like something out of a bad movie or a sensationalistic news story. It was horrific for the poor girl involved.

Be aware though that is not limited to a single private school. This happens all the time in private schools where you have a cohort of kids who go through school together and the classes are small. The same story could be told at any private school in the area including religious schools. It's just something that happens in private schools. It happened in the one I attended growing up as well.

Indeed. Even our lovely Burgundy had a clique of mean girls a few 8th grades ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now if Burgundy Farm just brings back a bus option, everything will be very nearly perfect again.

I was curious about that—does it just go to Braddock Road? How much is it? Any hope for next year that it will be back?

The bus service is through SSSAS, so it is pretty extensive. I think the return of bus service is up to SSSAS. It also includes Browne, so it mixes a lot of kids from several schools which may be an issue until everyone can be vaccinated. There is also a bus from Capitol Hill that is parent organized with their van and driver. This has run throughout Covid.

New to Burgundy this year and disappointed about the lack of transportation. In the past when they had bus service, was it door-to-door? Wonder what the pick up times were like in the morning?

Thinking back to The Before Times: Service was door-to-door, and our pickup time was around 7:15. I really, really, really miss the bus.

Any current parents who can speak to if there is discussion/plans to reistate now that vaccinations are happening?

No idea. I think it’s ultimately up to SSSAS since it’s their buses used for transportation. Even though the vaccination process is starting for younger kids, it will still be a little while until all kids are fully vaxxed (and the JK kids at Burgundy may still be too young). Haven’t heard of any plans to reinstate the buses. Sure would be a nice perk though! Driving takes a good chunk of time out of our days. Worth it for the school, but a bus would be so nice for more flexibility!

Crazy thought: Maybe Burgundy could get its own bus? C'mon, Burgundy.....

They used to have their own buses back in the early 2000's but cost way more to operate so it didn't make sense financially. The bus with SSSAS actually works out pretty well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had kids at both SSSAS and Burgundy for MS. SSSAS was the far better experience both socially and academically. There is absolutely no comparison.

SSSAS has a block schedule, PE or athletics (7/8) 4x a week, an hour for lunch and recess and a daily STAT period to meet with teachers. I actually found it to be more progressive in how they teach and the projects they have the kids do. The faculty and administrators at SSSAS are much stronger than those at BFCDS and they actually teach the kids executive function skills. There are also close to 100 kids in a grade versus 25-30 at BFCDS which makes it a much better environment socially. You will find your people.

If your kid is even slightly outside whatever current middle schoolers consider “normal” or “popular”, Burgundy Farm is absolutely the better choice. SSSAS is filled with cliques and desire for popularity is a real thing. This just isn’t a thing at Burgundy and the kids remain younger in their interests (not much into name brand clothes, “dating”, etc.) as a result.

This is 100% true. The type of kid you have matters a LOT. SSAS and BFCDS are almost polar opposites when it comes to teen culture. I know this directly from personal experience with my kids and very close friends kids. SSSAS is very sporty, lots of cliques. BFCDS is very much a school where quirky doesn't even get blinked at. I have one friend who's kid left SSSAS after 8th grade after being intentionally cyber targeted by a group of girls in 8th grade. When asked why they did it, the answer was literally "no reason, we just all decided we didn't like her anymore". It was like something out of a bad movie or a sensationalistic news story. It was horrific for the poor girl involved.

Be aware though that is not limited to a single private school. This happens all the time in private schools where you have a cohort of kids who go through school together and the classes are small. The same story could be told at any private school in the area including religious schools. It's just something that happens in private schools. It happened in the one I attended growing up as well.

Indeed. Even our lovely Burgundy had a clique of mean girls a few 8th grades ago.

Not on the same level as the SSSAS cliques or meanness. Burgundy is just really small and kids are expected to be BFFs with the same kids since K. It is normal developmentally for girls to shift friend groups in middle school not once, but sometimes a few times. Completely normal. At a small school, it can absolutely feel exclusionary or mean. The kids being left out of the friend shift feel they are the object of “mean” girls. In Burgundy’s case, a few Moms told every last parent they knew that there was a group of mean girls bullying their kids. I’m sorry, but that was not the story. My kid was in this class, but was a boy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Indeed. Even our lovely Burgundy had a clique of mean girls a few 8th grades ago.

Not on the same level as the SSSAS cliques or meanness. Burgundy is just really small and kids are expected to be BFFs with the same kids since K. It is normal developmentally for girls to shift friend groups in middle school not once, but sometimes a few times. Completely normal. At a small school, it can absolutely feel exclusionary or mean. The kids being left out of the friend shift feel they are the object of “mean” girls. In Burgundy’s case, a few Moms told every last parent they knew that there was a group of mean girls bullying their kids. I’m sorry, but that was not the story. My kid was in this class, but was a boy.

When we were looking at Burgundy a few years ago, the posts here about the mean girls nearly scared us off. But that's where we ended up, and my kid has had a wonderful experience there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Indeed. Even our lovely Burgundy had a clique of mean girls a few 8th grades ago.

Not on the same level as the SSSAS cliques or meanness. Burgundy is just really small and kids are expected to be BFFs with the same kids since K. It is normal developmentally for girls to shift friend groups in middle school not once, but sometimes a few times. Completely normal. At a small school, it can absolutely feel exclusionary or mean. The kids being left out of the friend shift feel they are the object of “mean” girls. In Burgundy’s case, a few Moms told every last parent they knew that there was a group of mean girls bullying their kids. I’m sorry, but that was not the story. My kid was in this class, but was a boy.

When we were looking at Burgundy a few years ago, the posts here about the mean girls nearly scared us off. But that's where we ended up, and my kid has had a wonderful experience there.

Yep. My take as a parent in the grade in question was that it was 2 moms that literally told everyone at the school (and probably on DCUM) how horrible a certain group of girls were. It was actually a few pretty typical middle school conflicts (we are not talking cyber bullying, for instance) which was escalated to absurdity by the parents. Not to dismiss the feelings of the girls that were struggling socially, but it wasn’t anything on the scale it was made out to be. Middle school can be tough socially, but Burgundy does a great job keeping it pretty pleasant.