I write to thank everyone in the BFS community – from near and far – for the incredible outpouring of support during Giving Day last week. Each and every gift helped us reach our goal: to receive 148 donations in one day and secure $10,000 from an anonymous alumna. The final results are in, and […]
Stereotype Threat
A few years ago, I attended a conference at which Dr. Claude Steele presented an inspiring, informative, and thought-provoking keynote talk, “Stereotype Threat: How it affects us and what we can do about it.” Dr. Steele is an internationally renowned social scientist and university executive, and his theory of stereotype threat has been the focus […]
How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results
By Esther Wojcicki (brief excerpts, full article here) Parents constantly ask me for advice. Through my decades of experience as a mother, grandmother and educator, I’ve identified several fundamental values that help our kids achieve success. One of these values is kindness, and it’s one that some parents fail to teach their kids. Teach your kids […]
BFS’s New Diversity Statement (and How Diversity Makes Us Smarter)
Our newly formed Diversity Committee drafted the following statement over the course of this year. Reviewed, revised, and approved by the full faculty in April, it was presented to the Board of Trustees last week. The statement is built upon the foundation of our mission as a school and the core beliefs which we stand […]
It’s “HOW” our community shows up that amazes me!
I send a heartfelt thanks to the many parents, former parents, students, teachers, staff members, trustees, Buckingham Meeting members, and friends of BFS who donated their time and energy this past Saturday at Spring Frolic 2019. The sky was grey, the weather damp, and it was how many people that showed up, and “how” our […]
Remembering Pete Seeger
Today is Peter Seeger’s birthday, and he would have turned 100. Pete Seeger is one of my heroes, and it is with sadness that I recall that he passed away six years ago at the age of 94. An inspiring folk singer and daring activist with a deep love and concern for our world, he […]
If Adults Don’t Talk with Children About Race…
(This summary written by Kim Marshall – The Marshall Memo) In a recent article in Phi Delta Kappan, Margaret Hagerman (Mississippi State University) says many white parents and educators avoid talking about race and racism with elementary-school children because they believe it’s too early to engage with controversial and disturbing topics. The problem with this […]
The aim of a Friends education, BFS’s core values, and why empathetic kids succeed in our all-about-me world
“While each Friends school has its own unique style and personality, they all have a common purpose: not only to provide a rich and challenging education but also to foster the ideals of community, spirituality, responsibility and stewardship. A hallmark of the Quaker school experience is the basic beliefs that we are all teachers and learners and […]
Setting Limits on Technology Use At Home
Citing sound and reliable research, psychologist Jean Twenge (San Diego State University) recently emphasized in an article in Time that the surge in depression and other mental health issues among adolescents is directly linked to heavy technology use. She has set the following limits with her three children: – “No phones or tablets in the […]
Parents, here’s the best thing you can do for your kids. (Pssst: It’s easy.)
By Elliot Haspel, The Washington Post, March 25, 2019 “As a parent, I worry about many things. Some are concerns I imagine to be universal and shared by parents from time immemorial: Are the children healthy, are the children safe? Yet there’s also a suite of uniquely modern anxieties that can be summed up as “How […]