As I reflect on the prior year, I am pleased with the progress we have made on accomplishing our goals as presented in our strategic plan.  New program initiatives are in place and each division and department has a plan for evaluation, innovation, and professional development.  New recruitment and marketing efforts, coupled with a professional admissions office with outstanding customer service, have resulted in a 16% increase in enrollment over two years.  Retention is strong, and our ninth grade has 15 students (compared to 5 two years ago).  We have balanced the budget for the second year in over a decade.  We ended 2010-2011 fiscal year with a modest cash excess.  And, our endowment has grown 25%.   Three major facilities projects were completed over the summer, and we will create a Master Facilities Plan this year.  None of this would have been possible without the hard work of every BCD employee and our dedicated trustees, the decisions that had to be made to create and manage two balanced budgets, our successes in increasing enrollment during a down economy, and our ability to articulate a case for support that attracted the generosity of several donors.

Academic Team: Last spring, the Academic Affairs Committee completed a year-long project and approved a professional development plan for BCD.  Providing “adequate funding to support the professional initiatives, interactions, and education of the teaching staff” is a core goal in the plan which will require Board support in the budgeting process. 

Last year, as guided by our strategic plan, faculty in each department and the Preschool and Lower School divisions worked to develop and present the Academic Team with three-year plans for evaluation, innovation, and professional development.  These plans will provide the framework for supervision and collaboration.

As we begin this year, highlights of program changes include:

  • Starting in 4th grade, our students will now have the option of continuing their study of French, or beginning a study of Spanish. The Spanish curriculum will follow that of French, and culminate with Spanish II in Grade 9.
  • The French program in 3rd grade will be expanded to provide an additional class each week.
  • Theater will be introduced in grades 1–3.  We are working on expanding the Middle School theater elective to students in the 4th grade.  The three Lower School classes will each work with new Theater Director Amy Brentano for three classes per week during one trimester this year.
  • The schedule in grades 4–9 will once again provide two advisor/advisee periods for social curricula, advisee conferences, and group-specific projects and activities.  Building upon the success in Upper School last year, Middle School teacher Sarah Pitcher-Hoffman will lead efforts to develop and implement a Middle School Social Skills program this year. 
  • To promote a feeling of community and greater identity as a division, and to provide time for sharing, singing, and working together, the Lower School will gather once a week for an extended Lower School Assembly.
  • After the success of extending the program last year, Lower School Science will once again be offered to students in Kindergarten.  Jenney Smith will continue to teach these classes.                                                                     
  • First piloted in 2009, the ERB Writing Assessment (WrAP) will be implemented in grades 7 – 9 next year.  Results in grades 7 and 8 last year showed that all BCD students tested in the top tier nationally.

Co-Curricular Programs: Sue Benner is off to a well-organized and energetic start overseeing and directing our athletic programs this year.  Sue, Carmen, and I will continue to work together to focus on our goals of strengthening our program, increasing participation, and developing a positive culture of community on our teams.  Sue and Theater and Film Director Amy Brentano have communicated with parents and students about the full range of options presented in our co-curricular programs and the expectations of students in the programs.  This year, to help with year-long planning, each Upper School student has signed up for all three trimesters in advance.  We are committed to these programs as essential to our overall mission and student experiences, and we are focused on improving the culture of these teams and ensembles.  I’m pleased to report that student participation is up across the board this year.

Facilities: Larry Bingham oversaw and completed countless projects during the summer, and Dan Lee demonstrated his talents as a carpenter and painter.  Everyone deserves special recognition and thanks for the masterful coordination of the many projects that were completed during the brief window between camp programs and school.  These projects included:

  • Replacing the Fitzpatrick Roof
  • Replacing the southern end of Albright Roof
  • Renovating Ryan – painting doors, walls and cubbies, installing new tile floors and stair treads, and replacing carpet
  • Peterson second floor classrooms – replacing carpet in two classrooms
  • Countless exterior repairs, painting, re-stuccoing, etc.

The team from Centerbrook was on campus throughout the summer, and they have reviewed maintenance issues, heating and cooling needs, and building code concerns that may need to be addressed (very few and nothing serious).  They also created a digital three-dimensional model of the campus, interior and exterior.  With this information they are ready to begin developing a Master Plan with us through October and November. Their goal is to “define our needs, create solutions, price them, and set priorities–all for presentation to the board in December-January.

Jim Childress and his partner, Peter Majewski will meet with BCD employees in small groups this week to better understand how they work and to hear what their needs and visions are.  This information will be carried forward into a series of three evening workshops to be held in October and November.  Invitations are going out to our community, and the workshops will hopefully include 30-40 people representing the BCD community (faculty, parents, students, and alumni). Jim and Peter will also hold a school-wide workshop on sustainability (a core value at BCD), prior to the workshops, to assure these issues are incorporated into the final Master Plan.

Faculty: Faculty were in and out all summer long, planning for the year ahead, meeting with administrators, reading admissions files, and investing in their professional growth.  Some highlights of the work completed this summer includes:  Music teacher Amy Hilliard attended a one-week course in using technology to teach composition at the University of Hartford.  Computer teacher Maureen Tumenas attended the ISTE conference in Denver- International Society for Technology in Education, edubloggercon in Denver, the Constructivist Consortium in Denver, edubloggerconeast in Boston, a workshop by icreate(Tufts) on using Sam animation program in Waltham, an edcamp, in Keene, NH, and did 2 one-day online google sketchup courses thru CRST and many Classroom 2.0 webinars.  Woodshop teacher Laura Gratz attended a two-day Hancock Shaker Village Workshop and built a shaker side table.  English and History teacher Kate Meyer attended a week-long NEH Landmark Seminar in the Mississippi Delta.  The seminar covered the history and culture of the Delta including the Delta Blues, Civil Rights, and the Great Migration.  She was also given a professional development grant from BCD which resulted in a revised and integrated curriculum map for fifth grade Ancient History.  She also spent time reviewing the language arts portions of the ERBs and writing up an analysis.  Third grade teacher Gill Romano and Kindergarten teacher Andrea Patel attended Dibels Next, a one day workshop at the Reading Institute in Williamstown, MA.  History teacher Ned Douglas immersed himself reading books about 20th century history, and presently awaiting funding to purchase books on the far east, an award to school for the comprehensive class he took with Kate Meyer last winter and spring.  PE teacher Gail Heady took 10 Yoga classes over the summer so that she can incorporate Yoga more into her curriculum and the daily experiences of students.  Lower School Science teacher Jenney Smith attended a week-long workshop on teaching science to elementary students at the Dana Hall School outside of Boston.  Preschool teacher Joni Guerette attended the week-long Responsive Classroom One course in Sunderland, MA.  French teacher Maria Whalen attended University Laval in Quebec City for five weeks, an immersion in French program, and completed class work in oral proficiency, advanced grammar, and phonetics. Art teacher Marilyn Cromwell attended a workshop at the Berkshire Botanical Garden.  Fourth and Fifth grade teachers Sarah Pitcher-Hoffman and Jeff Uhas received a grant and worked for a week to develop the English curriculum for 5th grade and integrate it with Kate Meyers’s history class. They also worked on integrating the 4th grade History and English classes more.  Associate Head of School Carmen Dockery Perkins attended the two-day National Curriculum Mapping Institute: The 21st Century Learner in Saratoga, NY.  And, Associate Head of School Paul Frantz completed his final research project and received a Masters degree in Education!