BB 11/03/23

BRADFORD BULLETIN

VOLUME XVI, ISSUE 16

Nov 3, 2023

FROM THE OFFICE

There are so many wonderful events and opportunities for Bradford students and families over the next few weeks! Please read the bulletin carefully each week so you can stay informed.

IMPORTANT NOTES for ALL:

24/25 School Calendar: You can access it here.
Recent Blog Post: You can read it here.
Hot Lunch: Thurs, 11/9 – You can place your order here.
Full Day Camp: Fri, 11/10 for TK – 8th grade students. Register here.

LOWER SCHOOL:

FROM MRS. MITCHELL: In case you hadn’t heard… here is the breakdown of Greek Olympics results listed from 1st place to 4th place: (S=Scrooby, L=Leiden, A=Austerfield, P=Plymouth)
- Pentathlon – L, A, S, P Poetry – S, L, A, P
- Chariot Race – S, P, A, L Relay Race – L, A, S&P tie for 3rd
- Marathons: Kindergarten – A, P, L, S 1st/2nd – L, S, A, P 3rd/4th – S, L, A, P

OVERALL RESULTS: Leiden, Scrooby, Austerfield, Plymouth Congratulations to Leiden!

4th grade Field Trip: Tues, 11/07

UPPER SCHOOL:

5th grade: Hobbit Day is coming up on Thursday, 11/9! Students will spend the day at the lower school campus, so they will be dropped off and picked up at lower school. It will be fun to see them again!
Class of 2025: Please answer the Senior Trip survey no later than Sunday, 11/05.
Class of 2024: Place your cap and gown orders here!

UPCOMING

THIS WEEK:

Fri, 11/3: Austerfield HOUSE SOCIAL
Sat, 11/4: Scrooby HOUSE SOCIAL

NEXT WEEK:

Mon 11/6 –
- Class of 2025 senior trip mtg
- Varsity Girls Basketball = First tryout/practice day
Tues, 11/7: 4th grade Field Trip to Duke Gardens
Thurs, 11/9:
- Hot lunch
- 5th grade Hobbit Play (at lower school campus)
- Austerfield service project with American Legion
Fri, 11/10: NO SCHOOL – Veterans Day observed
- Full Day Camp: TK – 8th grade REGISTER HERE

IN THE NEAR FUTURE:

Thurs, 11/16: Bradford Night (K – 2nd), 6:30 pm – parents, grandparents, friends welcome!
Tues, 11/21: Thanksgiving Feast and activities (TK – 4th), Declamation and Pumpkin Rugby (5th – 12th) – All students at lower school campus
Wed, 11/22 – Fri, 11/24: Thanksgiving break
Fri, 12/1 – Applications open for NEW students
Thurs, 12/14 – Christmas Concert (Upper school)
Wed, 12/20 – TK Nativity Play
Thurs, 12/21 –
- End of 2nd quarter
- NOON DISMISSAL – Christmas break commences!

FROM THE TEACHER’S DESK

GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Transitional Kindergarten (Mrs. Grubb and Mrs. Weber)

This Week

TK enjoyed a great week filled with new memory work. Students began memorizing two new nursery rhymes and a new verse. Our verse for the month is I Chronicle 16:34 and we began learning Humpty Dumpty and Little Miss Muffet. In math our focus this week was making AB patterns using our bodies, sorting a collection of items, and ordering/identifying numbers 1-10. E and F were our letters of the week and we spent much time hunting for these letters in our classrooms, writing them in our green books, and finding items that begin with each letter. Next week our letters will be H and T. In centers this week we worked on making letters with play dough, practiced compound words, and followed along in a book moving our fingers left to right to practice reading. This week’s Bible story was about Joshua and the battle of Jericho. We talked about God’s faithfulness to his people. Next week we begin learning about David.

Lower School P.E. (Mrs. Bennington)

K – 4th

Students did a great job in P.E. this week! Students completed activities and games that allowed them to focus on following directions and controlling their body.

Lower School Music (Mrs. Bennington)

K-3rd

Students did a great job this week working on the following songs: “I Need Thee Every Hour”, Trust and Obey”, and “Tis So Sweet”. Students are making big strides in correctly matching pitches and singing with confidence. Third grade students also worked on singing several Christmas Carols out of the hymnals.

4th

Students have been working on recorder songs that reinforce their ability to correctly read and play songs with the notes: G, A, and B. We spent a lot of time working on rhythm and note recognition. Students have been encouraged to take their recorders home and practice their music three to four times a week.

Lower School Art (Mrs. Palmer)

3rd

Students followed instructions to draw a pumpkin in perspective this week. We worked on creating depth and we began to use our oil pastels. We will be working with oil pastels to blend, color mix and create detail.

4th

Students followed instructions to draw a pumpkin in perspective this week. We worked on creating depth and we began to use our oil pastels. We will be working with oil pastels to blend, color mix and create detail.

Kindergarten (Mrs. Rivera and Miss Burdeshaw)

This Week:

Our kindergarten scholars were excited to celebrate Reformation Day this past Tuesday! We discussed Martin Luther and we saw how God used an ordinary man to make a historical impact. In math, we learned how to count by 10s to 100, to count by dimes, and to subtract one from a number. In phonics, we started our second reader “Bad Meg” and we introduced the phonograms “wh” and “th.” In history, we read about David and how he went from a shepherd boy to a king of Israel. In art, we finished up our leaf projects and in science, we began our section on the four seasons.

Memory Work:

Psalm 92:1 and review

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

This Week:

This week we enjoyed learning about the Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther’s contribution to church history. Students learned how to solve problems in math by making an organized list and / or acting the problem out with objects. They used a ruler and color tiles to measure objects,and named and compared fractional parts of a whole. We combined our study of history, art and reading while reading the book “The Grand Cat” and we created our very own windmill. In history we have moved on to the true story of Pocahontas and we are gearing up for our state projects. In grammar we are continuing with our study of nouns and we are learning to alphabetize four words at a time to the first letter in a word. In science we are practicing zoologists and learning about vertebrates and invertebrates.

Memory Work:

Romans 12:1-2 / Catechism #13

Upcoming:

Veterans Day Nov 10th – no school. State Projects due Monday November 13th.

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

This Week:

The ability to read and write well are such foundational skills that we spend much time on these subjects. Our spelling program gives the students a very solid foundation. Often the students can get high scores on the weekly tests; but our goal through dictation, copy work and journal writing is to put into practice the spelling and grammar that we have learned. Our goal is for the students to be excited about reading and the adventures available through books. That goal was reached and exceeded this week with our Boxcar Day. What fun to put ourselves in the shoes of Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny. Each “family” designed their own boxcar, we foraged in the “dump” for needed items and ate the food the Boxcar Children ate. You can see their creations at Bradford Night. Thank you to all who sent in donations -what a blessing! In math we have reviewed all the addition facts and started learning multiplication facts. Our math curriculum does move quickly, so enjoy the nightly worksheets with your students to reinforce what we learn in class.

Memory Work:

Continuing in Hebrews 11: 13-14

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

This Week

Third graders reenacted our version of Greek Democracy. The Strategoi presented their plan of defense against the Spartan invasion, Amelia and Nathan brought their dispute concerning the playground problem where Azure broke her toe, and the Polemarch presented the agenda for the Greek Festivities to be held in tribute to the fallen brother of Maddie and Obed. There was a lot of debate, the jury struggled to determine who was innocent, and the assembly grumbled at having to pay more money to cover the expense for the playground solution and festivities. We discussed the similarities between Greek demokratia and our own government, a constitutional republic. In Grammar, students added the last two parts of speech to their sentence question and answer flow, and in Latin, we added another 40 vocabulary words to our memory bank for a total of 80 words studied. Students have been excitedly planning their projects, and I am sure parents are busy assisting them. It is part of the classical process for students to put their knowledge to work by clearly communicating what they have learned, so we look forward to hearing each student present their project to the class. Another busy week in third grade!

Memory Work:

I Thessalonians 4:9-10

Upcoming:

11/13 Greek god projects due

4th Grade (Mrs. Burtram and Miss Abrahamsen)

This Week

We had a fabulous week filled with wonderful learning opportunities! In Latin, we started prepositions and will continue next week learning, songs and hand movements. Math was filled with adding and subtracting fractions and division mental math. We talked about Chemistry in science and learned a lot about matter and it’s properties completing many science experiments to discover density, volume, and mass. We started reading The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe in literature and will focus on character traits and reading strategies. We enjoyed learning about Otto and the Holy Roman Empire in history.

Upcoming:

Field Trip November 7th

LOGIC SCHOOL

Mrs. Bennington

5th-6th Band

Students did a great job turning in their second practice record. Students were given their third practice record to complete and turn in by Tuesday, November 7th. Practice Records will be due every Tuesday. Students worked on book exercises that reinforced their first five notes and rhythms that we have learned so far. Students also continued working on their Christmas Concert Music.

7th-9th Band

Students did a great job turning in their second practice record. Students were given their third practice record for the quarter and are expected to practice 90 minutes by Tuesday, November 7th. Practice Records will be due every Tuesday. Students worked on exercises from Unit 4, their Christmas Concert Music, and on their Concert Eb scale. Students had a great time playing for the parents that attended “Parent’s Day”.

Mrs. Campbell

5th-8th Chorus

This week we began a unit on rhythm and continued working on Christmas music. Students are to complete 90 minutes of practice by next Thursday.

Mr. Webster

5th-8th Boys’ PE

This week the boys ran a mile and played soccer.

Miss Stevenson

5th-8th Girls’ PE

This week the 5th-6th grade girls played flag football, and the 7th-8th grade girls played basketball.

5th Grade (Mrs. Owens)

This Week

This week, students have been busy preparing for our Hobbit play that will take place next Thursday, November 9th. In the midst of memorizing lines, they have also continued to learn more about the colonization of the new world and in particular about Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. In math the students continued to work with decimals and learned how to convert fractions to percentages. In grammar, we worked our way through an editing checklist that can be used when writing a short paragraph or a long essay. The students also began to learn about the formation of the periodic table.

Memory Work:

Isaiah 40:1-2

Upcoming:

Hobbit Day – Thursday, November 9th

Mrs. Palmer

5th Art

Students worked with oil pastels and color theory this week. We talked about primary colors, complementary colors and monochromatic colors. We will soon begin a colored pencil project.

Mrs. Kromhout

5th Latin

5th graders took their ch. 7 test and began ch. 8, learning about the perfect system for verbs. This week we learned about the perfect tense, and in future chapters we will learn about the pluperfect and future perfect tenses!

6th Grade (Miss Stevenson)

6th Reading and Literature

This week we continued reading Across Five Aprils.

6th Grammar and Writing

Students’ annotated bibliographies were due this week. We are now ready to start discussing in-text citations with direct quotes and paraphrasing, which we will likely start working on next week.

6th Bible

This week we started reading through the gospel of Mark.

6th History

We talked about the presidency of Abraham Lincoln this week in History.

6th Science

This week we reviewed for and took a quiz on notes that we have taken so far this quarter.

6th Logic

We took a little break from Logic this week to spend more time on concepts from other subjects.

Mr. Hunter

6th Latin

This week the students continued practicing with verbs in the perfect system. They also learned about Tacitus.

Mrs. Frueh

6th Math

This week we practiced interpreting various types of graphs, including pictographs, line graphs, bar graphs, and pie charts. We discussed how each graph can be used for a different purpose. For example, line graphs are great for showing change over time, while pie charts are better for showing parts of a whole. We also discussed how graphs can be constructed in a misleading way to either exaggerate or downplay particular aspects of the data. Even in math, honesty and integrity play a role in decision making. Ask your student how they can tell if a graph was constructed in a misleading way.

Mrs. Palmer

6th Art

Students continued to work on their colored pencil landscape drawings this week. These are coming along nicely!

Mrs. Crotts

7th Grammar and Writing

Students received handouts of -ly words and strong verbs to improve their writing.

7th Omnibus

Literature: This week we rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed for the Odyssey! They performed the play for Parent’s Day.
History: We were welcomed at the Mebane Public Library and located books about the life of C.S. Lewis. We began research for a paper on his life and works. We also borrowed class time to rehearse and rehearse and rehearse for the Odyssey play!
Bible/Theology: We learned more about the Noahic Covenant–a covenant that didn’t require anything of man and was a promise from God to not flood the whole earth again.

Mr. Johnston

7th Logic

The students continued to review their understanding of Fallacies of Relevance. We drilled down on Argumentum ad Misericordiam ( an appeal to pity ) and the Argumentum ad Populum ( mob appeal or the bandwagon fallacy)
In our Paideia discussion, we considered the proposition “Donuts are such a valuable commodity that the City Council should give donut shops privileged status among businesses.” In this class the content is not the point of the class, rather we focus on how to make and speak arguments with reasonable support.

Mrs. Frueh

7th Science

We are well into our study of the structure of the Earth. We discussed the theory of plate tectonics this week and talked about the role that worldview plays in interpreting data. We looked at various pieces of evidence that point to the fact that Earth’s continents are in motion and have been in motion for a long time. We discussed how the two different worldviews of uniformitarianism and catastrophism would affect how a scientist interprets data that points to the fact that the continents are in motion. We also discussed how evidence of a global flood aligns with the theory of plate tectonics.

7th Pre-Algebra

We continued to practice evaluating expressions using order of operations. This week we added exponential terms and roots, as well as fractions.

Mrs. Palmer

7th Art

Students are working with Greek order architecture this week. We are currently focusing on recreating a Ionic column in charcoal by blending and creating detail.

Mr. Hunter

7th Latin

This week the students continued practicing with their matrix and began studying relative pronouns. We also read some selections from Tacitus, Catullus, and Seneca the Younger.

Mrs. Kromhout

8th Omnibus

History: This week we focused on the Anglo Saxon culture, values, and practices alongside our study of Beowulf in literature! We also learned about their armor and weapons, looking at the artistry in their swords as well as some of the pieces found in recent archaeological excavations of Anglo Saxon burial mounds.
Literature: We are enjoying Beowulf! We began on Monday with an introduction to the characters, setting, and the story, and all week have been reading and digging into all that this book reveals about that moment in history, the people, and their worldview.

Composition: Students finished their Augustine essays this week! We spent Wednesday learning how to revise and proofread. On Friday, we enjoyed diving into the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins to complement our study of the Anglo Saxon poetry of Beowulf.

Mr. Hunter

8th Latin

This week the students reviewed their verb tenses, as well as the verbs sum and possum. They learned about Tacitus and Seneca the Younger, and we read some selections of Catullus’s poetry.

Mrs. Frueh

8th Science

This week we discussed Newton’s three laws of motion and how we see them at play in the world all around us. The students are also starting to use their knowledge of force and friction to develop plans for their self-propelled vehicle projects.

8th Algebra I

This week we used our knowledge of LCM (least common multiple) to find common denominators for rational expressions, allowing us to add and subtract fractions that include algebraic expressions.

Mrs. Palmer

8th Art

Students have worked on their charcoal landscapes this week. We are aiming to blend well, create accurate value and add in detail.

Mr. Crotts

8th Logic

We have been working on identifying different types of statements as independent, equivalent, consistent, and based on authority.

RHETORIC SCHOOL

From the COLLEGE COUNSELING Office:

College Visits:

Students had the opportunity to hear from Colorado Christian University and Thales College this week. A couple highlights:
- Colorado Christian University
  - CCU will pay for students to visit their campus just outside of Denver, CO! Get in touch with their admissions office for details.
  - CCU gives students an excellent education with a strong core curriculum.
  - CCU offers online dual enrollment credits for $100/credit hour, for a total of $300/3-credit class. This is equal to the amount of money Bradford offers in reimbursement for elective classes. This is a wonderful opportunity for juniors and seniors to earn college credits through a college with a Christian worldview! This program began in 2020, and it has been growing rapidly since.
- Thales College
  - Thales College currently offers three majors – entrepreneurial business, mechanical engineering, and classical education.
  - Their model is to combine a classical liberal arts education with a practical degree, equipping students with both wisdom and thoughtfulness as well as career skills and opportunities.
  - Their tuition is extremely low – it is $4000/term, and each degree is 8 terms for a total of $32,000/degree; they also offer 50% and 25% scholarships. Affordability and keeping students out of debt is one of their key values, so they are committed to that set price of tuition.

Seniors:

Many seniors have finished all or most of their college applications; a big congratulations to them for their hard work!
This is the perfect time for students to turn their attention to scholarships!

Mrs. Palmer

9th Spanish

This week we continued on with conjugating AR, ER and IR verbs. We also talked about several new stem-changing verbs. We reviewed both old and new vocabulary terms. Students also took a vocabulary quiz. Their next chapter test will be on November 15th.

Coach Johnston

9th History

This week we completed our study of what caused the American Revolution and have shifted our focus to the people, places, battles and ideas that won the war.

Mrs. Frueh

9th Geometry

This week we practiced writing several proofs for the congruency of triangles. The students were able to explain why SSS (Side-Side-Side) and SAS (Side-Angle-Side) proofs are logically coherent, but AAA (Angle-Angle-Angle) proofs are not.

Mr. Crotts

9th Logic

We are solving truth tables for validity, consistency, and equivalence by following the rules of logic, forcing truth values where we have none, and using a method of assumption when needed.

Mrs. Fairchild

9th Advanced Art

We wrestled with Thomas Cole’s Course of the Empire. These paintings were beautifully done and correctly assess humanity as broken, but incorrectly place hope for humanity in nature and the earth instead of Christ. This led to a fantastic discussion on the danger of beautiful lies and the need to be discerning and thoughtful when trying to understand worldviews,

Mrs. Hicks

9th Biology

This week we started studying Biochemistry. Students also completed a lab that involved building carbohydrates and a lab about osmosis.

Mrs. Crotts

9th Literature

9th graders did a great job working on an upcoming essay about a topic surrounding Frankenstein. We also whizzed through a review of when to capitalize nouns.

Dr. Byrd

9th-10th Bible Survey

This week we have been studying the books of II Samuel and I Kings. We saw that the book of II Samuel can be divided into three parts – good things, bad things, and other things in the life of David. We have especially examined how David repented and how the Lord forgave him when he confessed his sins. We have also been looking at the sufficiency of Scripture.
Verse Memory: Isaiah 41:10

Dr. James

10th Chemistry

This week the students took their first test of Q2. We also began a series on bonding, beginning with different types of chemical bonds.
Next week the students will learn how to predict bonding of atoms based on location in the periodic table. They will also work with molecular models to visualize how bonding determines molecular geometry.

Mrs. Palmer

10th Spanish

We worked with irregular verbs in the preterite this week. Students also practiced both writing and reading in Spanish. We continued to review both old and new vocabulary. There will be an upcoming chapter 8 test soon.

Mrs. Byrd

10th Algebra II

Students have learned to simplify rational expressions, solve ratio problems involving elements in chemical compounds, and solve polynomial equations by factoring.

Mrs. Crotts

10th Literature

10th graders received information about an upcoming research paper on an author from our time period who wrote books about ancient mythology. (They need to complete research and annotated bibliographies by November 8. The rough draft is due November 17 and the final draft is due December 8.)

Miss Oldham

10th Rhetoric I

Students practiced their Declamation speeches this week. Competition is next Thursday.

Coach Johnston

10th History

Students played an Ancient History-themed strategy game (Seven Wonders) in class on Tuesday after finishing their Cyrus the Great reading. On Thursday, we surveyed a number of dreams recorded in Herodotus and the Bible in order to draw out Biblical lessons about dreams.

10th PE

Tuesday’s rain limited us to an extended workout and some yard games, but we enjoyed much better weather on Thursday to get out on the tennis courts and play.

Mrs. Byrd

11th Precalculus

Properties of rational functions has been our topic for the week. We’ve learned applications of rational functions, how to identify discontinuities (asymptotes and holes), as well as analyze end behavior.

11th Physics

We concluded our study of two dimensional motion and have now begun a unit on Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. This represents a new subset of physics – dynamics – the study of forces.

Miss Oldham

11th Literature

Students continued with Othello.

Mr. Webster

11th History

This week we celebrated Reformation Day by watching the first half of a Martin Luther documentary (as well as eating donuts). We also started to go over feudalism and its impact on medieval society.

Mr. Hunter

11th NT Greek

This week the students continued practicing with contract verbs, and they began learning the present middle-passive indicative forms. They also learned about Xenophon and Demosthenes.

Mrs. Fairchild

11th Elective: Portfolio

The students have started carving their blocks and getting ready for the inking process. We are excited to start pulling the first prints soon!

Coach Johnston

11th-12th Elective: Military History

Students read about and discussed the most significant day of the war: June 6, 1944. Reading from Stephen Ambrose’s D-Day was particularly helpful.

Mrs. Palmer

11th-12th Elective: Spanish 3 / ESL

This week we worked on the subjunctive. We also reviewed old and new vocabulary, took a vocabulary quiz and worked on the four pillars of language learning: reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Dr. Smith

11th-12th Apologetics & Philosophy

We have just finished covering how the explanation of the gospel is actually part of the gospel, or how the proclamation of the gospel is the means by which people experience its saving power. We are currently looking at how the concept of a worldview has been used over the past two hundred years to embrace a non-Christian perspective on life. In the next few classes we will look at how it can be both legitimate and illegitimate to think of Christianity as a worldview.

Coach Johnston

12th History

Seniors finished an overview of the Seven Years War and French & Indian War. Friday was a mixed day for taking senior pictures and reviewing for an upcoming test. We will very briefly survey the major causes and events of the American Revolution next.

Miss Oldham

12th Literature

Students continued with Hamlet.

12th Rhetoric II

Seniors have their first drafts due in two weeks! This deadline has come up quickly and a lot of the seniors are stressed out about it. Please be in prayer for them as they work to finish their schooling well and to the glory of God.

Mrs. Byrd

12th Calculus

We considered various applications of differentiation – velocity and acceleration as well as other rates of change. We’ve also begun to tackle a larger application – related rates – situations in which several variables change at the same time.

Mrs. Hicks

12th Anatomy

This week we started studying the respiratory system. We also completed a lab measuring lung capacity with balloons.