Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Burgundy believers tend to have children who are (mostly) quirky girls with good executive functioning skills but not academic superstars.

This is a very strange view. My Burgundy grad children are “academic superstars” and loved their experience there.

Agree. Strange view. The “quirky” kids are absolutely the ones that struggle socially at Burgundy. The classes are very small and it can be hard for an immature or different kid to find a friend group. These are the kids and parents that are miserable and leave. The kids that thrive here tend to be very smart and socially “popular” kids that go on to top high schools.

I'm the PP who wrote this and qualified with "mostly" so definitely did not mean to define all successful students. And while it's great that your students are popular and academically gifted, I'd say this is far from the profile of the typical Burgundy student. That said, I'm happy that your children had a great experience there and are going on to follow their passions!

Anonymous wrote:

Burgundy believers tend to have children who are (mostly) quirky girls with good executive functioning skills but not academic superstars.

This is a very strange view. My Burgundy grad children are “academic superstars” and loved their experience there.

Agree. Strange view. The “quirky” kids are absolutely the ones that struggle socially at Burgundy. The classes are very small and it can be hard for an immature or different kid to find a friend group. These are the kids and parents that are miserable and leave. The kids that thrive here tend to be very smart and socially “popular” kids that go on to top high schools.

Burgundy believers tend to have children who are (mostly) quirky girls with good executive functioning skills but not academic superstars.

This is a very strange view. My Burgundy grad children are “academic superstars” and loved their experience there.

Burgundy does not explicitly teach study skills, organization skills or anything that has to do with executive functioning skills in the middle school.

If you have a child who needs any type of extra help with these kind of skills then I wouldn’t recommend Burgundy as your child will struggle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Our daughters went to Burgundy and I felt it was the greatest gift we've given them. It's been more valuable than a top private high school (for one of them) or an Ivy League education (the other).


How so? Genuinely interested.

Burgundy gave them faith in themselves. They were taught to value their own opinions and express them in a polite, thoughtful manner. This led to being unafraid to taking risks in the classroom, taking on leadership roles in various activities, and in being able to speak to adults with confidence. I suggested law school to my younger daughter recently, and she told me (politely, but strongly) that that is not where her interests lie. I had the same conversation with my parents years ago and they easily convinced me to go to law school (which was not the right fit for me). I truly believe that Burgundy gave them the self-confidence that I have only now found middle age.

+1 This is spot on. Absolutely the best thing about Burgundy. I didn’t fully appreciate it until my children were in high school!

Anonymous wrote:
Our daughters went to Burgundy and I felt it was the greatest gift we've given them. It's been more valuable than a top private high school (for one of them) or an Ivy League education (the other).


How so? Genuinely interested.

Burgundy gave them faith in themselves. They were taught to value their own opinions and express them in a polite, thoughtful manner. This led to being unafraid to taking risks in the classroom, taking on leadership roles in various activities, and in being able to speak to adults with confidence. I suggested law school to my younger daughter recently, and she told me (politely, but strongly) that that is not where her interests lie. I had the same conversation with my parents years ago and they easily convinced me to go to law school (which was not the right fit for me). I truly believe that Burgundy gave them the self-confidence that I have only now found middle age.

Anonymous wrote:Our daughters went to Burgundy and I felt it was the greatest gift we've given them. It's been more valuable than a top private high school (for one of them) or an Ivy League education (the other).

How so? Genuinely interested.

Our daughters went to Burgundy and I felt it was the greatest gift we've given them. It's been more valuable than a top private high school (for one of them) or an Ivy League education (the other).

The ongoing bashing of Burgundy by a select few with axes to grind has become tiresome. As the parent of a child who has been at the school for over 7 years and is headed to a top private for high school (as are many of the graduating class). The comment about writing is nonsense. In terms of the other issues raised, my recollection from over the years is that the kids who didn’t make it and left or were counseled out tensed to be those who had behavioral issues or who otherwise created issues among the school community and then the parents claimed bullying when in fact their kids were the problem.

Proof is in the pudding folks - Burgundy kids who graduate are well adjusted, socially aware and make very strong contributions to their high schools and colleges.

Enough already with the ongoing attempts to put Burgundy down and recognize the good work taking place at the school.

Two of my daughters friends at a well-regarded independent high school went there and those kids are awesome - mature, organized, smart, interesting. They seem to be doing really well at high school and have lots of fond memories of their time at Burgundy.

17:27 As a parent of a Burgundy grad, I can attest that it is NOT true that students don't write essays and papers. In fact, there is extensive, developmentally appropriate writing throughout the lower school years that ramps up considerably during middle school. From our friends with children at the lower and middle schools at K-12 indepents like Sidwell, GDS, Beauvoir, Maret, etc., the writing and social studies demands/expectations are pretty similar. Our DC is now at UVA along with about a half dozen Burgundy classmates and DC's class of 25 has students at Chicago, Princeton, Amherst, Columbia, Oxford, Pomona, and Vasser. They were perfectly well-prepared for demanding high schools, did well and ended up at fine colleges.

I have never set foot at the school and know very little about it, but I will tell you this: One of DC's friends who came to their current independent HS from BF mentioned in passing that the kids there go all the way through middle school without ever writing a lengthy essay or paper. Based on what I know about other area middle schools, if that is true, I think it's shocking.

Anonymous wrote:Purely personal opinion here. Terrible. Mixed-grade classrooms simply don’t work. Teachers who throw pencils because of inability to control classroom. Completely off “alternative” curriculum. We just couldn’t stand it (although some people swear by it). Do a thorough word search for Burgundy on this board.

PP. I also agree with this.

Bullying is a real problem at Burgundy. And there is no one at the school right now who wants to change that. Please reconsider your choices if you think your child will be a target.

Burgundy parent hère. It’s only fair to say the above HS list is over a couple of years. (I think.) It may also be an acceptance list, though I can think of graduates who have gone to all of those schools except 2 and maybe I just don’t remember those two, as well as additional public high schools and boarding schools.