BB 01-12-24

BRADFORD BULLETIN

VOLUME XVI, ISSUE 22

Jan 12, 2024

 

FROM THE OFFICE

IMPORTANT NOTES:  

  • FROM MRS. MITCHELL:  A renewed call to prayer:  Spring semester prayer cards are coming home in red folders to families who joined us in the fall of 2023.  We would love for veteran families to dig out your card pack and follow the weekly, scripturally-based prayer suggestions for the work God is doing in each classroom at Bradford.  Lower School parents are invited to join in-person on Thursday mornings at 7:50 AM in the carport  (or the glass foyer on cold days).  This has been a rich time and we would love for others to participate.  Psalm 62:8 “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”  Upper school parents are invited to join at the carport on Friday mornings at 7:50 AM.
  • LEIDEN:  It’s your turn to bring in the extra supplies!  Please bring them in after Christmas break.  Per student:  3 hand soap pump bottles*, 3 paper towel rolls, 3 tissue boxes (no lotion), 3 Clorox wipes.   (*If you would like to contribute disposable spoons and forks (no knives)  instead of soap, that would be great!) 
  • SAVE THE DATE! We are hosting a Parenting Conference on March 1st – 2nd, 2024 at the lower school campus.  More info to come, but go ahead and mark your calendars!
  • NC Opportunity Scholarship and Financial Aid:  On Tues, 12/19, Mr. Johnston sent an email outlining important information regarding these two programs.  Please reference that email and be sure to mark your calendars with the important dates and deadlines.  

 

UPCOMING

TODAY:  HOME Varsity basketball games vs. Lee Christian at the MACC

  • Varsity Girls (5:30pm)
  • Varsity Boys (immediately following the girls game, ~6:45pm)
  • Pizza Meal Deal:  $5 for one slice of pizza, drink, and bag of chips

 

NEXT WEEK:

  • 1/15 Monday:  MLK Day – NO SCHOOL
  • 1/16 Tuesday: 
    • Deadline for Hot Lunch order
    • HOME Varsity basketball games vs. Crossroads Christian at the MACC starting at 2:30
  • 1/18 Thursday: 
    • HOT LUNCH
    • HOME Varsity BOYS basketball game vs. New Garden Friends at the MACC (3:30pm)

 

IN THE NEAR FUTURE:

  • Fri, 1/26:  4th – 8th Spelling Bee @ upper school campus.  Parents welcome to attend.
  • Mon, 1/29:  House Shirt day and Senior Night at basketball
  • Thurs, 2/1:  Application for NC Opportunity Scholarship opens
  • Tues, 2/5:  CLT10 (Standardized Test) for 9th grade
  • Thurs, 2/15:  
    • CLT (Standardized Test) for 11th grade
    • Deadline to notify the office in writing for students who will not return for 2024/2025 school year.  (Contract opt-out fee will be applied for notifications that come in after this date.)
  • Fri, 2/16:  Teacher workday (no school)
  • Mon, 2/19:  Presidents Day (no school)
  • Thurs, 2/29:  3rd – 4th grade, Bradford Night 2.0, 7pm
  • Fri, 3/1 – Sat, 3/2:  PARENTING CONFERENCE – at lower school campus – Save the date!
  • Fri, 3/8: End of 3rd quarter – NOON DISMISSAL
  • Week of 3/11:  SPRING BREAK

 

FROM THE TEACHER’S DESK

 

GRAMMAR SCHOOL

 

Transitional Kindergarten (Mrs. Grubb and Mrs. Weber)

This Week
  • Third quarter is in full swing this week in TK! We spent time reviewing concepts learned prior to break and also introduced new concepts this week. We had the privilege of having the senior class come and read to us this week. Our letters this week were J and S. We practiced writing these letters and learning the sounds that they make. Next week our letters will be D and P. This week we began learning our last names and their special letters. We also began discussing birthdays. In math, we opened a pretend TK store and used our pennies to practice buying items. We also practiced making patterns and compared items by weight using the balance. A few of our centers included a journal about what we did during Christmas break, making a snowstorm in a jar, writing letters in “snow”, and distinguishing real from make believe stories. This week we reviewed Bible stories learned so far and introduced students to John the Baptist and the important task he was given. Ask your child if they remember something unusual about John! We also began memorizing Proverbs 3:5-6. 

 

Lower School P.E. (Mrs. Bennington)

K – 4th
  • Students did a great job in P.E. this week. Students got a chance to complete various team building activities and directional games. 

Lower School Music (Mrs. Bennington)

K-3rd
  • Students worked on our first hymn for the third quarter, “How Great Thou Art.”  Students also learned the song, “The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock”. We talked about the importance of building our lives on a firm foundation with God at the center so that we can weather any storm that comes our way. 
4th 
  • Fourth grade students worked on identifying pitches on the staff. They also worked on identifying notes that stay the same, that are a  step apart, and that skip. We worked on several songs on page 10. 

Lower School Art (Mrs. Palmer)

3rd
  • This week students learned about our artist of the quarter, Thomas Cole. We learned about his life and influence on the art world as well as studied some of his well-known paintings. 
4th
  • This week students learned about our artist of the quarter, Thomas Cole. We learned about his life and influence on the art world as well as studied some of his well-known paintings. 

Kindergarten (Mrs. Rivera and Miss Burdeshaw)

This Week: 
  • Our kindergartners seemed excited to be back in school after a long Christmas break. In math, we learned how to make a line segment with a ruler, how to sort common objects, the minus two subtraction facts, how to count by fives, and tally marks. In phonics, we learned the phonograms “or” and “ui” and started our first spelling list which had the number words “zero to five.” In art, we used lines of perspective to draw a garden scene. In history, we discussed the Destruction of Jerusalem and in science, we learned the differences between a gallon, a half-gallon, a quart, and a pint. 
Memory Work: 
  • John 3:16 and review

1st Grade (Mrs. Morgan & Mrs. Smith)

This Week: 
  • We were excited to welcome the kids back after Christmas break! We are looking forward to all the learning that will take place this quarter! In math we worked on subtracting 0 facts, intro to wrap-ups, adding two-digit numbers with regrouping, and using the addition algorithm. History has us sailing across the ocean for 9 long weeks with our pilgrims and finally making landfall in the “New World!” In science we are studying our bird of the month, the American Robin. In art, we used a lot of blending in our free hand drawing of the American Robin. Our reader this week talks about a little girl named Lexi who puts her hope in God and God is making her wise. We discussed several of the bible stories that were mentioned in this reader. We also discussed the braided bread known as challah bread and how it is made. 
Memory Work:  
  • Jeremiah 9:23-24
  • Review all verses we have studied thus far. 
Upcoming:      
  • January 15th – No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • January 25th – Rodeo Round Up- 100 Days
  • February 15th – Field Trip – Information will be sent out in a couple weeks

 

2nd Grade (Mrs. Hedgecock & Mrs. Eng)

This Week: 
  • After a break from school, it is always a delight to be back in the classroom with our classmates and share our adventures.  Students were eager to see what was next in second grade.  We continued the story of God’s plan to make a great nation from Abraham’s descendants, through Isaac, Jacob, and then Jacob’s twelve sons.  With the help of our history song, we are memorizing the names of the twelve sons. We marvel how to this day these descendants are living in the land God promised.  In math we have learned to solve problems with a missing addend.  For example:  3 pencils + n pencils = 8 pencils.  The students are doing well learning to subtract two-digit numbers where we need to trade a dime for ten pennies.  After learning to add multiples of 10 we now focus on adding multiples of 100.  Daily we work with telling time, counting coins, finding patterns and solving story problems.  Our new book Stuart Little by E. B. White will give the students an opportunity to create a museum piece and quiz their classmates with comprehension questions.  We look forward to seeing the creativity the students exhibit on their projects.  Besides academics we have had a fun week of “indoor” recesses and playing games with our classmates.  It is a joy to watch the students interact with each other and see how they exhibit love and care for others, not just looking out for their own interests.  
Memory Work: 
  • We continue in Proverbs 25 with verses 11 to 13 this week and 14-16 next week

 

3rd Grade (Mrs. McDorman and Mrs. Meredith)

This Week
  • This week students learned about three influential Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. These men were known for their love of learning. Socrates, unsatisfied with the teachers of his time, decided that in order to discover what is true, he must learn to think for himself. Ask your child to define the Socratic method and how it works! Socrates’s most famous student, Plato, opened an academy where students were taught not what to think, rather how to think. Plato’s Academy was the first institution of higher learning in the Western world, and produced many famous minds including Aristotle. In Latin, we introduced the imperfect tense endings and began parsing Latin verbs. In science, we began our study of astronomy and discovered the immeasurable vastness of the universe created and sustained by God. We rejoice knowing that “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork!”
Upcoming Memory Work:
  • Psalm 19: 3-4
Upcoming:
  • January 15th – No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

 

4th Grade (Mrs. Burtram and Miss Abrahamsen) 

This Week
  • Fourth graders welcomed the new calendar year with energy and enthusiasm, and we jumped right back into our normal routines. Our big focus over the next couple of weeks is learning how to write short stories; we have read several short stories together, identified story elements, and now we have started to plan outlines for writing our own short stories. The students will be writing their own stories over the next week in preparation for the Burlington Writers’ Contest. (Please note that, within the next two weeks, the kids’ handwritten stories (along with formatting instructions) will come home as the stories need to be typed before they are submitted for the contest.) The Crusades are the other notable topic of study during this first week of school in 2024; this sad period in history has allowed for some great discussions about the true nature of Christianity and what things ought to be prioritized in the life of a true believer.
  • Upcoming: Matt 5:1-5 due Friday, 1/19

 

LOGIC SCHOOL

 

Mrs. Bennington

5th-6th Band
  • Students worked hard this week to get back into practice routines after Christmas Break. Our first practice record for the third quarter will be due thisTuesday 1/16. Students learned several new notes this week and worked hard on new exercises. Students did a great job demonstrating their ability to  play the music exactly as it is written on their playing test on 2.1. Students will have their next test on Thursday 1/18 on 2.9. 
7th-9th Band 
  • Students worked hard this week to get back into practice routines after Christmas Break. Our first practice record for the third quarter will be due thisTuesday 1/16. Students worked hard on their Bb and Eb scales as well as several book exercises. Students will have their first test for the quarter on Thursday 1/18. Brass players, percussion,  and tenor sax will have their test on their one octave Bb and Eb scales. Flutes, clarinets, and alto sax will have their test on their two octave Eb Scale. 

Miss Stevenson

5th-8th Girls’ PE
  • Middle school girls played basketball this week.

5th Grade (Mrs. Owens) 

This Week
  • Our students have kicked off the 3rd quarter very strong.  We have taken a couple days to review a few math concepts and then dove right into learning about chance and probability.  In history we have reached the French and Indian War and the students are beginning to see the beginnings of unrest amongst the colonists.  This week in grammar we have focused on punctuating direct quotes which will come in hand for their creative writing story.  We have also spent quite a bit of time working on the creative writing story.  The students first draft of the story is due this Friday.  We continue to make our way through the “Witch of Blackbird Pond” and we are now seeing Kit slowly begin to take to her new life in Connecticut.  
Memory Work:
  • Proverbs 15:1-2; 4 (this week)
  • Proverbs Philippians 2:1-2 (next week)
Upcoming:
  • Creative Writing Story due Tuesday, January 30th

Mrs. Palmer

5th Art
  • This week students learned about our artist of the quarter, Thomas Cole. We learned about his life and influence on the art world as well as studied some of his well-known paintings.  Students also began a Thomas Cole inspired work of art. 
Mrs. Kromhout
5th Latin
  • Students jumped right back in and dusted cobwebs from their Latin brains! We started a new chapter, learning a new set of vocabulary, the third conjugation of verbs, and beginning to translate sentences with parsing. 

 

6th Grade (Miss Stevenson)

6th Reading and Literature
  • This week we started reading a biography about Eric Liddell.
6th Grammar and Writing
  • Students are starting to work on the fictional stories that they will be submitting for the Burlington Writers Club contest. We also had the opportunity to have Mrs. Kromhout come speak to us about how to write poetry. The fictional stories and poems are due on Friday, February 2. 
6th Bible
  • We are continuing to work our way through the gospel of Luke.
6th History
  • This week we learned about the completion of the transcontinental railroad.
6th Science
  • Sixth grade will be focusing on cell biology this quarter. Keep an eye out for the big cell project over the next few weeks!
6th Logic
  • We discussed the difference between whole-to-part and part-to-whole fallacies this week in Logic.

Mr. Hunter

6th Latin
  • This week the students learned about medieval Latin, particularly the works of Thomas Aquinas and Peter Lombard. They also took a practice test in preparation for the National Latin Exam, and they learned about third declension nouns. 

Mrs. Frueh

6th Math
  • We started our new semester with lessons on adding and subtracting signed numbers. As you may have noticed during homework time, the second half of our math curriculum can be quite challenging, but not beyond what our students can handle. It does take time and discipline to think through multi-step problems, but this is all part of the process of learning to think critically and to apply logic to arrive at the correct solution.

Mrs. Palmer 

6th Art
  • This week students learned about our artist of the quarter, Thomas Cole. We learned about his life and influence on the art world as well as studied some of his well-known paintings. Students will have a quiz on this artist next week.  We also began a Thomas Cole inspired work of art. 

Mrs. Crotts

7th Grammar and Writing
  • To wake up our holiday-rested brains, we read Amelia Bedelia and highlighted homonyms, synonyms and antonyms. We revisited The Lost Tools of Learning lessons 3 & 4.
7th Omnibus
  • Literature:  Students were introduced to Virgil and his Aeneid.  They had to read Book I by the end of the week.  We discussed the concept of living  individually versus the state.
  • History: The class learned about specific ways the Ancient Roman world impacts us today.
  • Bible/Theology: Students reviewed/learned about 3 Biblical covenants (Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic) and will take a quiz next week.  They also began reading the New Testament epistles.

Mrs. Frueh

7th Science
  • We started our new semester by learning about different types of volcanoes. We discussed recent eruptions in Iceland, Hawaii, and the Canary Islands to compare the different types of volcanoes present in those regions. 
7th Pre-Algebra
  • We started our new semester with lessons on adding and subtracting signed numbers. As you may have noticed during homework time, the second half of our math curriculum can be quite challenging, but not beyond what our students can handle. It does take time and discipline to think through multi-step problems, but this is all part of the process of learning to think critically and to apply logic to arrive at the correct solution.

Mrs. Palmer 

7th Art
  • This week students learned about our artist of the quarter, Thomas Cole. We learned about his life and influence on the art world as well as studied some of his well-known paintings. Students will have a quiz on this artist next week. We also began a Thomas Cole inspired work of art. 

Mr. Hunter

7th Latin
  • This week the students learned about medieval Latin, particularly the works of Thomas Aquinas and Peter Lombard. They also took a practice test in preparation for the National Latin Exam, and they learned more about the genitive case. 

 

Mrs. Kromhout

8th Omnibus 
  • History: We spent some time reviewing what we learned last semester, tracing the rise of kingdoms from the start of the Roman empire up through Charlemagne’s kingdom. If you have a chance, have your student narrate this video for you from about 1:00-6:00. We also continued to talk about Charlemagne’s intellectual revival. 
  • Literature: We officially finished Fellowship of the Ring and began The Two Towers. The students did a great job writing a brief book review of the Fellowship of the Ring and are excited to proceed further into Tolkien’s trilogy!
  • Composition: We are starting this quarter with a unit on creative writing! Each of the students will write an 800-1000 word short story which they will submit to the Burlington Writers Club contest in early February. I love this opportunity they have to explore a different genre of writing and explore their creative talents! 

Mr. Hunter

8th Latin
  • This week the students learned about medieval Latin, particularly the works of Thomas Aquinas and Peter Lombard. We began working through the passages assigned to them from Pictet’s Medulla Ethicae Christianae; we particularly discussed a passage in which Pictet indicates the natural notions that Christian ethics presupposes. The students also took a practice test in preparation for the National Latin Exam and learned more about the genitive case. 

Mrs. Frueh

8th Science
  • It has been an exciting week as students put the finishing touches on their self-propelled vehicles. Most students chose to build mousetrap cars that are powered by the potential energy stored in the spring mechanism. The cars will be raced next week.
8th Algebra I
  • We started our semester with a review of set notation and a discussion of subsets of the set of Real Numbers. We also reviewed square roots and how to evaluate both positive and negative roots.

Mrs. Palmer 

8th Art
  • This week students learned about our artist of the quarter, Thomas Cole. We learned about his life and influence on the art world as well as studied some of his well-known paintings. Students will have a quiz on this artist next week. 

Mr. Crotts

8th Logic
  • Watch out! Your students are learning about arguments.
  • Arguments are statements (true or false) that have premises (supporting statements of reason or fact) and a conclusion.
  • We had fun figuring out the appropriate body language for the arguments or conclusions we are attempting to make.

 

RHETORIC SCHOOL

 

From the COLLEGE COUNSELING Office:

9th-12th:
  • The CLT (Classic Learning Test) has put together an excellent resource highlighting like minded colleges offering summer programs to high school students!! Many of these programs offer college credit or scholarships, but also would be an amazing opportunity to experience life on campus, take classes from the professors, explore a certain field or area of study, meet like minded students from across the country, and get a taste of college life. I highly recommend checking out the guide to see if there may be a good fit for your student and family! 
Juniors: 
  • I will continue meeting individually with juniors throughout January once they have finished their IST week!
Seniors: 
  • Seniors should prepare to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)! While it usually comes out in October, the government just redesigned the form and released it on 12/31 as a soft launch. 
  • Who? Most seniors will benefit from filling out the FAFSA
  • When? Seniors should aim to fill out the form by the end of January – some of the money is first come first serve so it is good to fill it out as soon as possible
  • What is it? The FAFSA will offer access to federal grants (free money!), federal loans (to be paid back),  state aid, work study options, and is sometimes also used by the institution to give aid
    • You do NOT need to have applied to college to fill out the FAFSA; go ahead and do it now, and you can send it to the institutions later (you will need to list the colleges you are interested in, but you can update this later if it changes and you can list up to 20 colleges)
    • What’s new? You can read more about the changes to the new form here 
    • Keep your FSA ID safe! You will use it each year you submit the FAFSA
    • How? Students can complete the form here: https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa 
    • This guide to conquering the FAFSA isn’t yet updated for the new FAFSA,  but it is a thorough walkthrough and should be updated soon: https://www.collegeessayguy.com/paying-for-college/fafsa/101 

Mrs. Palmer 

9th Spanish 
  • No Spanish this week due to IST. 

Coach Johnston

9th History
  • Students worked faithfully on their Hour of Code course this week. Each student learned numerous new skills while being exposed to some of the joys and frustrations of coding projects. There were no history classes this week due to the Technology IST.

Mr. Crotts

9th Logic
  • We will be back in class next week (IST Week) and making the long lessons 25-40 run to May.

Mrs. Hicks

9th Biology
  • We will begin 3rd quarter Biology next week!

Mrs. Crotts

9th Literature
  • 9th Graders have been learning to code during IST (Intensive Short Term).

Dr. James

10th Chemistry
  • Chemistry resumes Wednesday, Jan 17th.  The students will begin learning how to do conversions from molecules to moles to grams.  They will also learn how to calculate percent composition and interpret elemental analysis data.

Mrs. Palmer 

10th Spanish
  • No Spanish this week due to IST. 

Mrs. Byrd

10th Algebra II
  • We’ll begin next week with factorable denominators, more uniform motion problems, and radical denominators

Mrs. Crotts

10th Literature
  • We have not met for literature this week due to IST (Intensive Short Term–economics).

Miss Oldham

10th Rhetoric I
  • This week has been IST week. 

Coach Johnston

10th History
  • Students did not have history this week due to Economics IST.
10th PE
  • Students did not have PE this week due to Economics IST.

Mrs. Byrd

11th Precalculus
  • Next week we’ll return to our introduction to trig functions.  Major topics will include the unit circle and reference angles.
11th Physics
  • We’ll begin next week with a study of momentum and impulse force.

Miss Oldham

11th Literature
  • This week has been IST week. 

Mr. Hunter

11th NT Greek
  • No NT Greek this week due to IST. 

Mrs. Palmer

11th-12th Elective: Color Theory/Design
  • No Color Theory/Design this week due to IST. 

Dr. Smith

11th-12th Apologetics & Philosophy
  • Due to IST week, we have not met. We begin class again on the 17th and embark on our reading of James Sire’s book The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog.

Coach Johnston

12th History
  • Students did not have history class this week due to senior thesis IST.

Miss Oldham

12th Literature
  • This week has been IST week. 
12th Rhetoric II
  • Seniors have had IST week to work on editing their theses. They have read and reviewed each other’s papers as well as received feedback from mentors. Please be in prayer for the seniors as they look towards this final leg of the senior thesis race! 

Mrs. Byrd

12th Calculus
  • We have been getting in some work sessions this week.  Key topics include summation/integral notation, the fundamental theorem of calculus, the behavior of accumulation functions, and solving definite integrals.

Mrs. Hicks

12th Anatomy
  • We will begin 3rd quarter Anatomy next week!