BB 10-10-25

BRADFORD BULLETIN

VOLUME XVIII, ISSUE 13

Oct 10, 2025

 

FROM THE OFFICE

IMPORTANT NOTES:  

  • Sweaters:  REQUIRED with the logo for dress uniform days during the 2nd and 3rd quarter.  
  • School pictures:  Thurs 10/16 at the lower school.  Students will need to wear their dress uniform!  And Fri 10/17 at the upper school.  Get haircuts in advance and remember, sweaters are required!
  • House Socials:  We hope many families will be able to attend!
  • SOCKTOBER:  Did you know that socks are the least donated item in most shelters? Every night in the United States, an estimated 600,000 people live on the streets. This October, we want to prove that even a small act of love, such as donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of our neighbors who are homeless. We will take our donations to the Piedmont Rescue Mission in Burlington. There will be a collection box at the lower campus. We have partnered with a local business that will allow us to purchase a dozen socks for $5.00. Your student may bring in $5.00 and give it to their teacher or submit it to the office. This will be the thirteenth year we have participated in this important ministry. Our collection will end on Nov. 7th.
  • 2nd Quarter Required Supplies:  Leiden, it is your turn to bring in the required supplies.  Each Leiden student needs to bring the following items:
    • 3 (individual) bottles of Softsoap, 3 boxes of tissues, 3 rolls of paper towels

LOWER SCHOOL IMPORTANT NOTES:  Aristotle is credited with saying,  “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.”  Second quarter is where students should begin to hit their stride.  Routines and expectations have been practiced and now students can grow in their commitment to arete (the Greek word for excellence or virtue).  This shared commitment from our handbook is rooted in 2 Peter 1:3 which says, “…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue”.   Pray that the Lord will open the eyes of students to see that virtuous living is the fruit of a growing knowledge of Christ.  May Christ lead our students in the way of excellence as they rise to the joys and challenges of the work required of them.

FROM MRS. MITCHELL:  

UPPER SCHOOL IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • Parent Teacher Conferences SignUpGenius for Upper School, October 15, (registration closes on 10/14)
  • Varsity Volleyball & Soccer Regular season concluded on Friday, 10/10. We will find out on Saturday, 10/11 whether our teams made the state playoffs. Players and families, be prepared to practice on Monday (10/13) and travel for an away game on Tuesday (10/14). Coaches will update teams once the state playoff brackets are published Saturday night.
  • The basketball season is quickly approaching! If you are planning to play, circle the week of October 27-31 on your calendar as the start of tryouts and practices quickly approaches. Bradford is planning to offer Varsity Boys and Girls basketball teams as well as Middle School Boys and Girls basketball teams. Team rosters are limited to 10-15 people, so be prepared to compete for spots. We are still looking for a Middle School Boys Basketball coach! One potential solution is being considered, but please be praying for this needed position and recommend (nathanieljohnston@bradfordacademy.org) anyone that might be willing to consider leading as a head coach or assistant coach.

UPCOMING

NEXT WEEK:

  • Tues, 10/14:  XC Meet – AWAY
  • Wed, 10/15:  Parent – Teacher Conferences (No school for students)
  • Thurs, 10/16:  School Pictures at Lower School  **K – 4th: Dress uniform with sweaters!
  • Fri, 10/17:  
    • School Pictures at Upper School  **Dress uniform with sweaters!
    • 5:30 – Leiden House Social
  • Sat, 10/18:  5:30 – Plymouth House Social

IN THE NEAR FUTURE:

  • Tues, 10/21:  FIELD TRIP:  2nd grade to Mebane Train Display
  • Fri, 10/24:
    • XC – State Championships
    • 5:30 – Austerfield House Social
  • Sat, 10/25:  5:30 – Scrooby House Social
  • Thurs, 10/30:  11th Grade – College Info Night (for students and parents)
  • Fri, 10/31:  Greek Olympics at Lower School
  • Thurs, 11/6:  Upper School – Parents Day 
  • Fri, 11/7:  Upper School – Parents Day
  • Tues, 11/11:  Veterans Day – no school
  • Thurs, 11/13:  
    • Coffee and Conversation with Mr. Johnston
    • 3rd – 4th grades – Bradford Night Program, 6:30p
  • Fri, 11/14:  5th grade – Hobbit Day
  • Tues, 11/25:  Thanksgiving Feast Day and Activities
  • Wed, 11/26 – Fri, 11/28:  Thanksgiving Holiday (no school)
  • Mon, 12/1 – Applications open for the 26/27 school year!
  • NEW DATE:  Thurs, 12/18:  7th – 12th Christmas Concert
  • Tues, 12/16:  5th / 6th grade Christmas Concert
  • Thurs, 12/18:
  • Alumni Panel (upper school)
  • 7th – 12th grade Christmas Concert
  • Fri, 12/19:  Last day of Q2, Christmas celebration.  NOON dismissal for all students

FROM THE TEACHER’S DESK

 

GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Transitional Kindergarten (Mrs. Grubb and Mrs. Weber)

TK students were eager to return to school this week after fall break! We kicked off the second quarter learning about Abraham and how he traveled from place to place as God told him and we learned about the promise God made to him to give him more descendants than the number of stars in the sky. This led into TK Camp Promise day on Thursday. We spent our day outside and had most of our lessons in a tent at the shelter.  Students took their own journey to gather treasures from the forest to use to create their special letters. We enjoyed singing songs at the campsite with a special camp snack. The Bradford Academy senior class joined us at the end of our camp day for reading buddies. While camp day was definitely a highlight of the week, we had a very full week of other activities. In math students practiced sorting pattern blocks and teddy bears and then graphed the teddy bears to identify most and fewest. A few of our centers this week included: identifying the main character of a story, making shapes with play dough, a journal entry about fall break, counting words in a sentence, and we viewed letter constellations using flashlights. Make sure to check out the TK photo album for pictures from the week!

Lower School Art (Mrs. Knight)

3rd
  • This week in art students observed carefully and worked diligently on their Greek soldier sketches. 
4th
  • In this week’s art class fourth graders began learning the “Nine Fundamental Laws of Drawing” song. We worked on our Viking ship sketches. 

Lower School Music (Mrs. Bennington)

K-4th 

  • Students did a great job this week working on the first verse of our new hymn, “Praise to the Lord”. Students also reviewed “Non Nobis” and the new additions that have been added. Third and fourth grade students continued to work on songs for Bradford Night on November 13th. 

Lower School P.E. (Mrs. Bennington)

K-4th 

  • Students did a great job in P.E. practicing events for the Greek Olympics. Students worked on the Discuss, Javelin, Long Jump, and Sprint. The Greek Olympics will be on Friday, October 31st during the school day. 

Kindergarten (Mrs. Rivera and Miss Burdeshaw)

This Week:

Our kindergarten scholars had a great start to the second quarter! In math, we learned how to identify the ordinal numbers from first to fifth, how to problem solve by using a model, and we reviewed previous math concepts as well. In phonics, we introduced the short uphill cursive letters: p, r, s, t, u, and w, as well as their respective phonograms. In history, we discussed the biblical figure, Joseph and how he ended up in Egypt. His story is a great example of how good came out of something that was meant for evil. In art, we discussed warm and cool colors, and we also reviewed the colors of the rainbow. In science, we finished our unit on the five senses, specifically the sense of hearing. Our students had the opportunity to listen to different animal sounds and discern what sound matched with which animal. We are praying for a wonderful quarter filled with learning! 

Memory Work: Psalm 75:1 and review

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

This Week: 
  • The students came back from fall break with great memories and ready to jump into the second quarter. In science the students learned about the Canada Goose and were excited to tell stories of where they have seen them. Students learned about our artist of the quarter, Jan Vermeer in art and completed their own drawing based on the painting “The Girl With A Pearl Earring”. We reviewed Chapters 1, 2, and part of 3 this week so they will be ready for new concepts next week in math. In grammar, the students learned about the names of family members (aunt, uncle, cousin, etc) and how those are common nouns, unless they are speaking about a specific relative and that relative’s name. The students practiced lowercase letters: s, t, r, and p. We read the book The Black Flag about a bold preacher named Cotton Mather who had a heart for even the most hardened criminals and he told them about the forgiveness of sins through Jesus. We finished reading about Christopher Columbus this week and we will move from learning about the discovery of America, to learning about the first inhabitants, the Native Americans. We also had good discussions about praising God as we started to learn our first hymn for this quarter, “Praise to The Lord, The Almighty.”

Memory Work:  

  • Isaiah 40:8
Upcoming:      
  • School pictures on Thursday October 16, 2025. Students wear dress uniforms.

2nd Grade (Miss Verroi & Mrs. Eng)

This Week: 
  • After a week of family adventures over fall break, it is nice to be back in class to share adventures with our classmates.  Our Bible verse is short, but very important.  What a wonderful world it would be if we all looked out not only for our own interests but also for the interests of others.  We have been working on this at school and hope you have noticed some changes in life at home.  Our history card, The First Intermediate Period, shows us the damage that can be done by selfish rulers who caused unrest and tough times for many.  This week we started on a new adventure with the Boxcar Children.  After we finish the first book in this series we hope the students will be motivated to read other books in this series.  We have also started a new unit in science – The Plant Kingdom.  We have finished the K section of spelling and will take a week off next week to review the words in these first seven lessons and also work on enrichment activities.  We look forward to seeing many of you next week for the Parent Conferences.  Don’t forget Picture Day is next Thursday.  Students should wear their dress uniforms.  

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

This Week:

We have enjoyed our week back from our break! Genesis 8:22, tells us that “as long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”  We enjoyed the changes in weather, as well as embarking on a new journey this quarter! The Greeks used stories of gods to explain the world around them. Students continued reading  The Iliad and learned about the Greek Olympics. Students enjoyed comparing how the ancient Olympics  shaped our modern-day Olympics. In math, we have been practicing multiplication with arrays and simple division. In science, we began learning about physics, starting with Archimedes, the famous mathematician.  It was a busy first week back, full of fun and learning!

Upcoming Memory Work: Matthew 6:26-27

4th Grade (Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Rankin) 

This Week

It was encouraging to see students quickly return to routines this week after a time of refreshment during Fall Break. In our study of Mohammed and the founding of Islam, we emphasized the freedom we have in Christ, and the source of the fruit of our faith, the Holy Spirit. Our students compared and contrasted the differences between Islam and Christianity, emphasizing the importance of worshipping the one true God. Your children are eager to understand and discuss what is True! In math, we learned the properties of multiplication and worked with models, applying the Distributive Property in order to fully see multiplication.  Possessive noun adjectives showed up in both Grammar and Latin this week, reinforcing this concept of a noun becoming an adjective.  Our students reviewed Latin with some friendly competition and funny stories with pictures. We polished up our Botany journals and look forward to moving into Earth Science in Quarter Two. 

Upcoming  Memory Work: Psalm 23

 

LOGIC SCHOOL

Mrs. Bennington

5th-6th Band
  • 5th grade band students did a great job this week reviewing their first three notes and learning new songs with those notes. Students did a great job on their playing test on, “Hot Cross Buns”. Students were given their first practice record to complete. Practice Records are due Tuesday 10/14/25. Practice will help students reinforce the concepts learned in class and enable students to better play their instruments. 
  • 6th grade students did a great job working on adding dynamics, articulation, and phrasing to numerous book exercises. Students were given their first practice record to complete. Practice Records are due Tuesday 10/14/25. Practice will help students reinforce the concepts learned in class and enable students to better play their instruments. 
7th-8th Band
  • Students continued to successfully sight read multiple Christmas pieces this week. Students were also given their first practice record to complete. Practice Records are due Tuesday 10/14/25. Practice will help students reinforce the concepts learned in class and enable students to better play their instruments. 

Mrs. Johnston

5th – 8th Choirs
  • 5th Choir spent time singing out of the hymnal, working on the basic sight-reading skills. We learned to identify the key to find out what “DO” is. The students focused on learning Praise to the Lord this week.
  • 6th Choir was introduced to minor keys, learned their minor scale in Solfeggio, and then properly labeled it in God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. We also spent time listening to the various chords within the song, noting how phrases or specific words were tied to either a major chord or a minor chord.
  • 7th/8th Choir began learning Christus Victor this week. Our biggest challenge was following all the various endings! By the end of class, though, it was pulling together and sounded lovely!

5th Grade (Mrs. LaTour and Miss Johnston) 

This Week
  •  We had a great start to the quarter! In history we learned about the settling of the Jamestown colony. We talked about why the colony struggled to start and the concept that “if you don’t work you don’t eat,” (a concept that originates in the Bible) that John Smith used to get them to work. We covered compatible numbers and long division in math. In science, we learned all about the digestive system. Overall, the students had a great first week back and we are all thrilled that Mrs. LaTour is back (although we do miss Mrs. James)! Enjoy the weekend!

Memory Work: Romans 12: 17-19

Mrs. Knight

5th Art
  • In art this week fifth graders reviewed value and practiced shading using different values. This allowed a 2D shape to have the appearance of a 3D form. Next we began to learn about Johannes Vermeer’s use of light and perspective and began a composition  using linear perspective similar to motifs in several of his works. 

6th Grade (Mrs. McDorman and Miss Pugsley)

6th Reading and Literature
  • We started reading Across Five Aprils this week. This book opens up many good opportunities to discuss a few of the major battles that occurred during the Civil War.
6th Grammar and Writing
  • Students began their journey through the creative writing process. We have begun talking about story structure, genre, and characters. 
6th Bible
  • We continue to work on the gospel of Matthew this week.
6th History
  • We looked at the Westward Expansion this week. That will lead into our card on the Mexican American War.
6th Science
  • We have been reviewing the criteria for life which we refer to by the acronym ORDER. We also discussed the conditions necessary for life and the different types of non-life (synthetic, dead, and never alive)!
6th Math
  • We began Chapter 4 covering the order of operations, introducing exponents, and evaluating algebraic expressions. 
6th Logic
  • We are continuing our study through logical fallacies! This week, we focused on Ad Hominem (“to the man”) attacks, how to spot them, and some examples from real life. 

Mrs. Crotts

6th Math
  • Math Section 2 began Chapter 4–exponents and order of operations.  Ask your student what “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.” means!

Mrs. Wright

6th Latin
  • This week the 6th grade Latin students jumped right back in where we left off before break in chapter three.  The primary goal of this chapter is to learn the direct object in the accusative case.  This chapter is funny and therefore highly memorable  for the kids because it features a naughty boy and his siblings.  By seeing the direct object in action in the story, they do not forget that this part of speech is the person or thing directly receiving the action of the verb. This chapter is also full of action verbs in the 1st, 2nd & 4th conjugation verbs. This week they were also introduced to the direct object form of the personal, interrogative, and relative pronoun.   

Mrs. Palmer

6th Art
  • Students learned about our artist of the quarter, Johannes Vermeer, this week. We studied the Dutch Golden Age and spent much of our time dissecting Vermeer’s work. Students will take an art history quiz next week on Vermeer. 

Dr. Wright

7th Omnibus
  •  7th graders are immersed in Homer’s Odyssey (Books 1-2), our production of the Odyssey Play, and memorizing declamation speeches.  We soon will begin writing stories and poems for the Burlington Writers’ Contest.

Mrs. Frueh

7th Science
  •  It was an exciting week in science class! After spending all of the first quarter studying the scientific method and the field of pedology (soil science), the students started their quarter-long soil experiments designed to answer the question:  “Which type of soil will help bean plants to grow the tallest?”. This week, the students worked together as lab groups to germinate and then plant Great Northern beans in five different types of soil. Throughout the next month or so, the students will collect data on the growth of their bean plants, and then write a formal lab report about the experiment.
7th Pre-Algebra
  • This week, we practiced making many types of graphs, which aligned well with the lab work being done in science. We discussed how graphs can be constructed honestly to report data visually or how they can be constructed in a misleading way that misrepresents the available data. We also reviewed adding and subtracting fractions and then ended the week with the first cumulative test of the quarter.

Mrs. Palmer 

7th Art
  • Students learned about our artist of the quarter, Johannes Vermeer, this week. We studied the Dutch Golden Age and spent much of our time dissecting Vermeer’s work. Students will take an art history quiz next week on Vermeer. 

Mrs. Wright

7th Latin
  • This week the 7th grade Latin students jumped right back in where we left off before break in chapter three.  The primary goal of this chapter is to learn the direct object in the accusative case.  This chapter is funny and therefore highly memorable  for the kids because it features a naughty boy and his siblings.  By seeing the direct object in action in the story, they do not forget that this part of speech is the person or thing directly receiving the action of the verb. This chapter is also full of action verbs in the 1st, 2nd & 4th conjugation verbs. This week they were also introduced to the direct object form of the personal, interrogative, and relative pronoun.   
7th Logic
  • This week the 7th grade Logic class spent time in cumulative review and were then introduced to a very powerful fallacy called the Appeal to Pity.

Dr. Wright

8th Omnibus 
  • We continue to study the fall of the western Roman Empire.  We have finished Athanasius and will begin Benedict’s Rule next week.   For their biographical research papers, students have chosen their historical figure to research, and have located key primary and secondary sources.  

Mrs. Wright

8th Latin
  • This week the 8th grade Latin students jumped right back in where we left off before break in chapter three.  The primary goal of this chapter is to learn the direct object in the accusative case.  This chapter is funny and therefore highly memorable  for the kids because it features a naughty boy and his siblings.  By seeing the direct object in action in the story, they do not forget that this part of speech is the person or thing directly receiving the action of the verb. This chapter is also full of action verbs in the 1st, 2nd & 4th conjugation verbs. This week they were also introduced to the direct object form of the personal, interrogative, and relative pronoun.   

Mrs. Frueh

8th Science
  • We started the second quarter with an in-depth look at solids and how their molecular structure is different from liquids and gases. Ask your student to explain how the molecular structure of ice and liquid water differs from most other solids and liquids.
8th Algebra I
  • We jumped into the second quarter with a study of proportions and percentages. The students practiced writing ratio relationships in the form of proportions and then learned multiple ways to solve for the unknown.

Mrs. Palmer 

8th Art
  • Students learned about our artist of the quarter, Johannes Vermeer, this week. We studied the Dutch Golden Age and spent much of our time dissecting Vermeer’s work. Students will take an art history quiz next week on Vermeer. 

Mr. Crotts

8th Logic
  • We are learning how to define terms or concepts by various methods.

RHETORIC SCHOOL

From the COLLEGE COUNSELING Office:

9th-12th:

Seniors continue to work through the college application process and present information and questions that they have come across.

DON’T FORGET TO REGISTER TO VOTE AND DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!!

Juniors were hosted on Wednesday by Burlington Christian Academy and took the PSAT–a practice test for the SAT.  

  • 11th graders and their parents are invited to the Senior Preview Meeting scheduled for October 30 from 5-6 PM in Room 305.

Sophomores and their parents had the opportunity to gather for the 11th Grade Preview Meeting.  Coach Johnston shared about athletics, Mrs. Crotts shared about college information, Mrs. Fairchild shared about the Junior/Senior Gala and Ms. Oldham shared about the senior thesis.

Freshman participated in IST this week. During their Intensive Short Term they focused on technology.  During the college focus portion, students learned that online research can answer pertinent questions about colleges such as the student-to-teacher ratio, geographical location, activities and businesses available near colleges, study abroad opportunities, etc.  Also, students learned about SCOIR* (an online source to evaluate personality and gifts and match a student with potential colleges) and the Common App (a platform intending to streamline the college application process).  (*SCOIR is an Irish word referring to retirement or transitions.)

Mrs. Palmer 

9th Spanish 
  • We did not have regular class this week due to Intensive Short Term.  We did spend some time reviewing some past vocabulary and grammar. 

Coach Johnston

9th History
  • We did not have regular class this week due to IST, but students used some of their tech time to focus on learning more about how to find excellent sources and how to assess sources to determine their reliability and value. As groups, we researched and then discussed the topic of the effectiveness (or not) and the ethics (or not) of the WW2 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Students also spent an hour on Google Earth, learning how street view availability can create virtual field trips as well as contribute to planning of future personal trips as you scout out potential visits far away. Because of how the soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were buried where they were found after the Battle of the Little Bighorn at Custer’s Last Stand, we went to that site and were able to draw lessons out on how the battle plan was created, what events happened and how the battle went and ended. The technology that put us there was really cool, but the reality of what occurred that day was very sobering. 9th graders did a great job in tech IST this week!

Ms. Oldham

9th Rhetoric I
  •  We did not meet this week due to IST. 

Dr. Byrd 

9th Bible Survey 

  • We did not meet because of IST. But when we return, Lord willing, we will get back into the Books of Ruth and I and II Samuel. 

Mrs. Frueh

9th Biology
  •  We did not meet this week due to IST. 

Mrs. Frueh

9th Geometry
  •  We did not meet this week due to IST. 

Mrs. Crotts

9th Literature
  • The 9th grade participated in IST–Intensive Short Term–Technology classes this week.  They focused on typing skills through the Typing Club and also learned about how technology advances academics when used in a positive way.

Mrs. Fairchild 

9th – Tech
  • We discussed the dangers of social media and biased algorithms. Additionally, we completed some fun exercises to demonstrate how our Google searches are biased and how Google uses our previous searches to channel specific content to be in the top of our search. The students were surprised at the variety of search results when they each tested and compared a google search that said, “Climate change is…” 

Mrs. Bennington

9th-11th Band 
  •  Students did not have Band this week due to IST. 

Mrs. Johnston

9th-11th Chorale
  • Lunchtime Chorale learned Christus Victor this week.
  • There was no 9th-11th Chorale due to IST.

Dr. James

10th Chemistry
  • Chemistry class did not meet this week due to IST.
  • Next week we will resume with an introduction to the periodic table, focusing on information that can be discerned about the elements based on their location within the table.

Mrs. Palmer 

10th Spanish
  • We did not have class this week due to Intensive Short Term.   

Mrs. Byrd

10th Algebra II
  • Our class will begin regular meetings next week taking up the topic of absolute value and piecewise functions.

Mrs. Crotts

10th Literature
  • Students participated in IST–Intensive Short Term–Economics led by Mr. Johnston.

Miss Oldham

10th Rhetoric II
  •   We did not meet this week due to IST. 

Coach Johnston

10th History
  • We did not meet this week due to IST. As always, it was great to have the students in forum each morning as we continued to study Philippians!
11th Precalculus
  • Next week we will begin meeting again and pick up with more about polynomial functions.  We will consider how to locate imaginary roots in addition to real roots and also learn how they can be graphed in a three dimensional system.

Miss Oldham

11th Literature
  •   We did not meet this week due to IST. 

Mr. Webster

11th History
  •  We did not meet due to IST.

Coach Johnston

12th History
  • We did not meet this week due to IST. 

Ms. Oldham

12th Literature
  •    We did not meet this week due to IST. 
12th Rhetoric III
  •  Seniors wrote their first drafts this week. I am excited to read what they have been working on this past quarter. Please be in prayer for the seniors as they begin the editing process over this quarter. 

Mrs. Byrd

12th Calculus
  • We have had a couple of meetings this week.  We wrapped up our unit on basic differentiation.  Next week we will move on to learning differentiation techniques for more complex functions.