May 2013 All-School Meeting Wrap Up

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Category: From the Office

Published on Thursday, 23 May 2013 11:01

After words of welcome and a moment of silence, Shelly shared this note sent by Todd Scholl.

Thanks again for allowing me to come and be a part of your school and community for a couple of days. You should all be proud of the culture you have built at Blue Mountain. Your friendliness and hospitality were very much appreciated.

Thanks for being a shining light in an all too often darkening educational landscape. My hope is that one day all students will be able to experience the freedom, compassion, and creativity exemplified by your wonderful school.

Todd works for South Carolina’s Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement, and he visited the school last month to learn about how we do things here at BMS. This year we’ve made many new friends as folks come to learn more about what we do here. Our most recent visitors are from the Davidson Green School, which is opening in the fall in North Carolina. It’s been fun to watch our school grow to a place where we are now able to serve as a model for others, and we look forward to continuing to build new relationships next year.

Next on the agenda were some brief announcements and calendar reminders:

• Please remember to register for summer camp and for next school year soon. We only have a few spots left in most of our classes, and current students who don’t enroll by June 1 may lose their places.
• The high school is on track for opening in the fall, and applications are due June 1. Please contact Joe Klein for more details.
• Keep your eyes open for two surveys, which will be arriving in your email soon.
• The Unknowns will have a puppet show at Dogtown on May 23 at 7pm.
• May 27: Memorial Day – No school
• May 30: Last Day – Half day; Celebration at 11:30 with potluck
• June 5: Parent conferences

Shelly introduced Board president, Kristan Morrison. Kristan reminded everyone that it’s time to vote for Board members. An email was sent out last week with the ballot, but if you need a new ballot contact Carol. In general, said Kristan, the Board is doing well, and in particular the financial status of the school is making good progress.

Kristan announced that Ezekiel Fugate has been hired as Administrative Manager/HS Teacher, and he’ll be starting July 1. In addition to teaching at the high school, Ezekiel will be working on administrative projects like accreditation. Towards accreditation, representatives from the Virginia Association of Independent Schools visited the school recently.

During a quick overview of the Board committees, Kristan announced a donation by CERC and shared that a group of Radford University graduate students will be working at Vintage Virginia Wine Festival to help raise money for our school. She also talked about the Advisory Board being developed to help connect more community members with the school. Finally, Kristan mentioned that all the Board committees are looking for more participation, and if you are interested, please contact her or any Board member.

Shelly took the floor again to update everyone on plans for the 2013-14 school year for the elementary school, and shared the calendar. Next year, there will be five classes, and we’ve hired Jenni Heartway to teach the new lower elementary class. Hari Berzins will be teaching the kindergarten class, and Ashley Morales will be the new teaching assistant in the early childhood class. Information about these teachers and their experiences in these areas are available in the office. No changes are planned for the middle elementary class, and the upper elementary class will be taught by Jonathan Vandergrift, Inge Terrill, and Corey Avellar. The scheduling and location for the upper elementary class are still being discussed.

Scholarship Forms Available

Details

Category: From the Office

Published on Thursday, 16 May 2013 11:00

Scholarship forms for the 2013-14 school year are now available on the forms page of the website and in the main office. This form is for the high school and the elementary school.

Please note that the scholarship form will only apply to the household who submits the application. If more than one household is responsible for a child's tuition, only the household applying will receive the award. For example, if a child's tuition is being paid by Household A and Household B, and Household A submits an application for scholarship, only Household A will receive the award. If Household B also wishes to apply for scholarship, it would also need to submit a completed application.

The deadline for submission is June 1. Forms received after that date will be taken on a first-come, first-serve basis and awarded as funds allow.

If you have questions, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in the main office.

Join us for camp!

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Category: From the Office

Published on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 14:03

Summer is almost here, so register now to save your spot at summer camp! This summer, BMS is offering three sessions of day camp for kids ages 3 and up. We have lots of great activities planned, and you won't want to miss the fun!

Each session runs Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The fee is $195 per week (Circus Camp is two weeks), and children must bring their own lunch. There is a 15% discount for additional children in a family, and scholarships are available. Payment is due in full by the first day of the camp session.

Mystery Camp: June 17-21

You and your detective team will solve small mysteries all week, leading up to solving a big mystery at the end of the week. They will participate in making footprint molds, fingerprinting, fiber analysis, evidence collection, informant interviewing, and intelligence analysis.

Old-Time Radio Camp: June 24-28

Students will explore local history and traditional crafts and skills, music, and storytelling, learning to express themselves in creative ways all week. They will also participate in developing and putting on a live ‘radio show’ at the end of the week.

Circus Camp: July 8-19

Students will have the opportunity to try all sorts of circus-related games and skills like juggling, clowning, and costume making, and will put on a real circus at the end of the session. For returning circus campers, this is a great chance to learn new skills or refine skills you worked on last summer.

Tuition Futures and Referral Discount

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Category: From the Board

Published on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:22

We have two money saving options for BMS families for next year:

1. Tuition Futures - introduced last year, tuition futures allow families to save on future tuition while giving the school advance funds to plan ahead for the school year! (Currently this program is only available to elementary school students.)

• This year we are offering 2 futures for the 2013-2014 school year and 2 futures for the 2014-2015 school year at a 7% discount off of the 2013-14 tuition rate when paid by May 31, 2013.
• Parents with a child can by 2 futures for both the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school year, or parents with more than 1 child at the school can buy 2 futures for this year and/or 2 for the 2014-15 year.
• This is a first come, first serve option with payment.
• The 2013-14 year tuition is $4765, and with the discount the total would be $4431.45, for a savings of $333.55.

2. Referral Bonus - any family that refers a new BMS family that enrolls their child for the 2013-14 school year will receive a $250 tuition credit for their child for the 2013-14 school year!  The referring family will receive the credit in May 2014 if the new family stays enrolled for the entire school year and is in good financial standing, and the new family cannot have had their child enrolled at BMS anytime before the 2009 school year.  The new family must not have enrolled for the upcoming school year at this point and time, and must be enrolled no later than Sept 1.

Please contact the office if you want to take advantage of either of these programs!

BMS in "Encounter" Journal

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Category: From the Board

Published on Monday, 29 April 2013 11:34

Last school year, Miranda and her students welcomed a graduate student from Radford University into their science class. Susan Slate, who was working on her masters' degree in curriculum and instruction in secondary science education, had some great questions about alternative schools. With the help of Blue Mountain School teachers, students, and staff, Susan's questions were answered, and she wrote an article, State Science Standards in a Progressive School.

The article was recently published in Encounter: Education for Meeting and Social Justice, a "journal of educational research and perspective featuring articles about returning balance to education by embedding teaching in a framework that enhances students’ personal growth as humane beings and cultivates in them a genuine commitment to social justice and an awareness that we are all but a part of a larger natural world — while insisting on genuine achievement in learning and skill acquisition."

Susan enjoyed working with Blue Mountain School so much, she joined our Board of Trustees last fall.