BFS Diversity Committee Retreat 2020 – “Building an individual and institution’s racial and equity literacy is a process, not a destination”

Dr. Sandra Chapman (“Dr. Chap”), facilitated an informative, engaging, and inspiring one-day retreat for our faculty Diversity Committee on February 28.  The goal was to support and position the Diversity Committee as they develop their perspectives; build leadership capacity; help lead a range of next steps and initiatives with the faculty, students, curricula, and our […]

Facilities Master Planning update: “good stewardship means taking care of what has been given, not just for ourselves, but for the people around us and for future generations as well”

Thank you to the over 140 community members who have offered their input during the initial phase of our Master Facilities Planning process with Jim Childress and Beth Hedde from Centerbrook Architects. To recap the charge to Centerbrook: they have been hired to guide us in the creation of a plan that will allow us […]

The Parents We Mean To Be – “the intense, crisis-filled, and profoundly joyous process of raising a child can be a powerful force for our own moral development”

In his book, The Parents We Mean To Be, Harvard psychologist Richard Weissbourd argues incisively that parents–not peers, not television–are the primary shapers of their children’s moral lives. Through the author’s own original field research, including hundreds of rich, revealing conversations with children, parents, teachers, and coaches, a surprising picture emerges.  Parents’ intense focus on […]

Does a student’s chair really matter?

The following article informed and affirmed our thinking and decision when selecting the new chairs – the VS PantoSwing-LuPo chairs – for grades 3-8, the Library, and the Science Lab this year. These chairs follow every movement of the body, simultaneously prompting the posture to change continuously. It adapts itself consistently to the needs of […]

Kindergarten’s Reflections About Peace

Recently, our Kindergarten students were asked to share thoughts and pictures about peace by completing the phrase “Peace is”. Their sincere and inspiring responses (beautifully written and illustrated) were wonderfully aligned with our values as a Friends school: being kind to each other.  E.K. helping friends by listening to them.  W.G. when friends are kind […]

Connected Community

Our Values at BFS – Rooted in the beliefs and traditions of Quakers, our values as a Friends school guide us to engage members of the school community in the shared responsibility of honoring the Light within each person and fostering the growth, individual talents, and passions of every student. A core value – Connected […]