Any Burgundy Farm Country Day School parents out there?

[Anonymous]

We have heard on these message boards directly from Lowell, Sheridan, and Green Acres parents. In the threads we have some second-hand reports about Burgundy Farm school but I didn't see any comments directly from families who send their children there. I know this is a DC board and so fewer VA parents may be on it, but if you are out there, can you please post your experiences with the school?

[Anonymous]

bump

[Anonymous]

What does "bump" mean?

[maynie]

I'm not a Burgundy parent but I have many of friends that attended this school. They absolutely loved it. Two of them now teach there. The school often comes up when we all get together. The only thing they're not happy about is the current tuition rates. I went to the fair they have every year and I was impressed. Be prepared for your kid to love many animals though. I loved that they had the barn animals and had to take care of them as part of their school experience. My one friend that went there is still constantly rescuing turtles and mice Sorry I can't offer you info on from personal experience, but hopefully someone comes through who can share more info on the actual enrollment and attending experience.

[Anonymous]

Two of my children attend BFCDS and we absolutely love it. I was a camp counselor at the camp when in college and I had friends who attended Burgundy growing up (I went all the way through Alexandria Public Schools). I love that the teachers are all very engaged with the children in active learning, the environment is respectful and encouraging for children of all different abilities (it's not a school of all super-geniuses), there's an emphasis on the Arts, and there's solid academic preparation but w/o all the stresses of focusing on SOLs to the detriment of real learning.

The cost of the school is very high but contrary to perception, the school population isn't entirely wealthy. They do offer some financial aid for middle to lower income families that can offset some of the expense. I won't sugar-coat -- DH and I are likely sacrificing a much earlier retirement this way but we've decided that for us, it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

Our child is nearing the end of his first year at Burgundy Farm, and he is totally loving school. The campus culture is extremely nurturing and supportive to the kids--the staff really work hard to meet each child where he is and provide support and challenge as appropriate. The place is serene and noncompetitive--the children work together and help each other throughout the school year--both within the classes and between grades. As for the academics, the pace is challenging, but the small class-sizes allow the teachers to really work one-on-one with the children, as well as in small groups, so the kids really do learn a lot. Burgundy families tend to be fairly wealthy, as you would guess from the tuition rates, but there are also many more middle-income families who either receive financial assistance, or in our case, make substantial budgetary "adjustments" to provide our child this wonderful opportunity. Overall, Burgundy is extremely unpretentious and welcoming to all. If you can visit the campus in person, particularly on a day when school is in session, I challenge you not to fall in love with the place.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, BFCDS is honest about its waitlist. We applied for K last year--there were about 60 applications for 8 slots. The other 24 K slots were filled by pre-K moving up, and siblings of current students. The school only waitlisted 4 applicants and the rest were gently turned down. It's always difficult to not get your first choice school, but I prefer honesty to sugar-coating.