Reply to What is Burgundy Farm Country Day Community/Administration Like?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can parents who have had kids attending for several years or who graduated recently speak to what the community and administration is like? 
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Hoping to get more measured responses here. [/quote]

We were at Burgundy, and we withdrew.  We were very unhappy.  Burgundy seemed to us to be a very high teacher/admin-turnover environment.  Academics are not the key emphasis.  Bullying seemed to be openly encouraged, as were ostentatious displays of wealth.  The administration refused to respond to concerns that we and other parents brought to them, and at year-end more than 1/3 of the families in two adjacent grade-levels withdrew, for various reasons and expressing various frustrations.  There was also a great deal more unhappiness with the academics than we had expected.  Burgundy was completely up front with us about the emphases and priorities -- they told us that they aren't the school for a kid with an overwhelming academic drive.  Well, they were right, but what we didn't realize is that their program is among the least structured progressive programs in the region.  As late as 5th grade, the kids had never even seen what a standardized test looked like, and had not performed evaluated, individual projects.  They all sat solely at group tables, because that's how all work was performed.  Years later, many -- many -- Burgundy kids seem to do very well, but an alarming number seem to be permanently locked-in to alternative programs.  We also found the faculty to be incredibly uneven.  A few seemed terrific; a few seemed socially presentable but not at all capable; a few seemed to be overgrown hippies who had nothing but bad days (one of whom enforced classroom order by throwing pencils – admins did nothing).  Burgundy seems to have fierce defenders on this board, and also seems to have fierce critics.  No one seems neutral about Burgundy.  We didn’t realize, until we were out, what a polarizing, hostile place it felt like to us (and we’re relatively lefty, as were other parents who pulled, so it isn’t simply a matter of parent socio-political leanings).  We also became aware of legal disputes between families and the school, and we encourage a thorough research job.  
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Okay, OP, I am a Burgundy parent of nine years and have some definite frustrations, but the poster of the above quite is way off base. Unless their children went to Burgundy many years ago, this account is just factually incorrect. For instance: all Burgundy kids take standardized tests (the ERB) beginning in 4th grade, so the claim that 5th graders had never seen a standardized test is just weird. As for bullying, the school is excellent on that. No, teachers cannot observe ever single interaction between kids, and my kids have sometimes come home with unhappy stories -- but the idea that the school "openly encourages" bullying is ridiculous. Far from it: the teachers come down very hard on bullying the minute it is brought to their attention. A boy was expelled last year for a cyber-related issue, and in the lower grades kids with significant behavior problems tend to be counseled out. The ostentatious wealth display issue is also silly. There are a tiny handful of rich and show-offy people but they are very atypical. One of the things I like most about Burgundy is that it does not feel nearly as much like a rich kids school as many others.

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