BB 11-07-25

BRADFORD BULLETIN

VOLUME XVIII, ISSUE 17

Nov 7, 2025

 

FROM THE OFFICE

IMPORTANT NOTES:  

  • Bradford Archer Store:  We are excited to share the link to our Bradford Archer Store!  Don’t worry, if you lose this link, you can access it from our website.  There are lots of options, not just for students, but also for parents, grandparents, and babies too!  We love to see Bradford logos on the sidelines at ballgames and around town!   **PLEASE NOTE:  Our in-class uniform code has not changed. The only sweatshirts and jackets allowed in the classroom are the French Toast black quarter zip sweatshirt and full zip fleece jacket.**
  • Canned Food Drive: Plymouth is organizing a Food Drive for the Allied Church Food Bank.  Starting on Monday, all students are invited to donate canned food and non-perishable food items.  Mrs. Rivera will have a collection bin at the lower school campus, and Mrs. Crotts will have one at the upper school.  Please consider contributing to this service project.  (All donations should be sent by November 17th.)
  • Hot lunch:  Remember to order your HOT LUNCH by Sunday night for the following Thursday!  Our Seniors are raising funds for their class trip.

    

LOWER SCHOOL IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • FROM MRS. MITCHELL:  Greek Olympics results are in!  Thank you to all who volunteered to make this a special day for the students.  Everyone competed hard.  We saw a lot of good sportsmanship on display.  It was wonderful to have so many parents come and cheer on their Olympians.
    • Sparta (Scrooby) and Mycenae (Leiden) tied for 1st place followed by Corinth (Plymouth) in 2nd place and Athens (Austerfield) in 3rd.  Well done, Archers!

 

UPCOMING

NEXT WEEK:

  • Tues, 11/11:  
    • Veterans Day – No School
    • Camp Day – for registered TK – 8th grade students
  • Thurs, 11/13:
    • 8:00 Coffee and Conversation with Mr. Johnston at Traveling Addiction
    • Upper school:  Declamation Class Competitions
    • NO RUNNING CLUB
    • 4:00 – Away – Basketball games begin for MS girls, Varsity girls, and Varsity boys
    • 6:30 Bradford Night for 3rd  to 4th grades
  • Fri, 11/14:  5th grade Hobbit Play

IN THE NEAR FUTURE:

  • NEW Fri, 11/21:  7th – 12th grade BONFIRE at lower school campus, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
  • 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!
  • Wed, 12/17:  8:00 TK Nativity Play, coffee and donuts reception for parents
  • Thurs, 12/18:  7th – 12th Christmas Concert
  • Tues, 12/16:  7:00 pm –  5th / 6th grade Christmas Concert
  • Thurs, 12/18:
    • Alumni Panel (upper school)
    • 7:00 pm – 7th – 12th grade Christmas Concert at Mebane Presbyterian Church
  • 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)

We enjoyed a lovely fall week in TK! Students were eager to put on their boots this week and take a walk in the woods to look for living and nonliving things as well as the changing leaves. This corresponded with our vocabulary words this week which were: inhale, exhale, empty, full, lungs, and chest. In math this week students helped build a shape matrix and played the missing shape game, covered designs using pattern blocks, and made AB patterns using our voices and bodies. Student’s fine motor skills were challenged with a color by number. Our letters of the week were E and F. A few of our centers included: a letter hunt, building letters with play dough, following along left to right in a book, writing letters on chalkboards, and compound word activities. Students learned 2 new nursery rhymes this week: Humpty Dumpty and Little Miss Muffet. We read this week about Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. We discussed Joshua’s obedience to God and God’s faithfulness to His people in leading them to the promised land. Students began learning I Chronicles 16:34 and we talked about thankfulness this week. 

Lower School Art (Mrs. Knight)

3rd
  • This week in art students worked diligently on a warm/cool colors fall leaf project.
4th
  • Fourth graders began a fall leaf watercolor project on Thursday. We traced leaves using oil pastels and then filled in the leaves with watercolor, discussing watercolor techniques as we worked. 

Lower School Band (Mrs. Bennington)

K-4th

  • First -fourth grade students earned a game of their choice this week in PE as a reward for all of their hard work during the Greek Olympics. Kindergarten did a great job working on hand-eye coordination drills and running. 

Lower School P.E. (Mrs. Bennington)

K-4th

  • Students did a great job working on “Praise to the Lord”, “Non Nobis”, and “And Can It Be”. Fourth grade students did a great job on their recorder test on the  “Doxology” for memory. Third and Fourth grade students are doing well on their Bradford Night songs and are looking forward to Bradford Night next week on Thursday 11/13 at 6:30pm. 

Kindergarten (Mrs. Rivera and Miss Burdeshaw)

  • This Week: 

Our kindergarten scholars have been loving the beautiful, crisp fall weather! In math, we learned how to sort, count, and write tally marks on a chart, and how to identify ordinal numbers from 1st to 10th. In phonics, we reviewed all of the single-letter phonogram sounds, as well as all of the cursive letters. We also continued reading the book, “Pan and the Mad Man,” which the students are enjoying! In history, we discussed the biblical figure, David, and his defeat of the giant, Goliath. David was a young shepherd boy who God used to help conquer the Philistine army. God also raised David up to become the next king of Israel. This story is a picture of how God is our strength in times of need. In art and science, we introduced our new unit on the four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. The students enjoyed coloring their four seasons’ wheel and discussing which one is their favorite. 

Memory Work: 

1 Corinthians 10:13 and review

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

This Week: 
  • This week our reader was about Martin Luther and a great tie-in with our history lessons last week. The kids have been loving playing outdoors in the beautiful autumn weather and marveling at  the falling leaves (God’s confetti!). We are blessed with a beautiful playground where the kids’ imaginations can flourish. In math the students learned about fact families, related facts, parts and whole, addition and subtraction comparison word problems, and continued practicing their facts.  In grammar, they are working on the rules of sentences; such as sentences must start with a capital letter, end with punctuation, and make sense. Ask your student to sing the sentence song for you. In history the students continued to learn about Pocohontas, but from the viewpoint of the settlers that came and settled Jamestown for the Virginia Company. They are learning about the difficulties the settlers faced and the role God’s providence played. They are learning the King James Song. See what they can sing for you. In science, the kids learned about the Carolina Chickadee, named by James Audubon. They also are learning a cute song about James Audubon (to the tune of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt). Ask them to sing it for you.
Memory Work: 
  •  Proverbs 2:6-7 / Next Week Romans 12:1-2
Upcoming:      
  • Veterans Day – Tuesday,  November 11. Thank you Veterans! No School.

2nd Grade (Miss Verroi & Mrs. Eng)

This Week: 

Each week is filled with adventures in second grade.  Our Bible verse from Hebrews 11:15-16 helps the students realize that they have choices to make – will they choose to be faithful to God despite life’s challenges.  Abraham could have returned to his homeland, but instead he chose to follow God.  Our history study of Sodom and Gomorrah shows the price Lot’s wife had to pay for desiring the things of this world.  Heavy topics for second graders, but these seeds that are planted now will have much fruit later.  Speaking of seeds, our tallest plant is 11 cm tall!  Each day the students arrive excited to see the plants and they are very observant to see small changes – a good scientist must be observant, so they are off to a great start.  Our newest book, My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet, is a funny and creative story.  We can almost imagine ourselves on Wild Island trying to rescue the dragon.  We will start using the commands we have learned in Latin to ask the students to “sedate”, “surgite”, “scribite”, “repete”, “audite”, “tacete”, “aperite libros” or “attolite manus”.  With much repetition they will learn them quickly.  As Thanksgiving approaches, we will work on thankfulness and practice counting our blessings.  

Upcoming:
  • Middle East Projects due Wednesday, November 12th, 2025

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

This Week 

Your students have memorized another 40  words in Latin. They can conjugate verbs, decline nouns, and translate short Latin sentences.  We continued working with different properties of multiplication, continuing with the Distributive property.  As we continue to work on our writing skills, students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of  those skills taught by entering the Burlington Writer’s Contest next quarter. In science, we continue to explore God’s creation and the beauty it demonstrates of His character, logic, and order. Newton discovered three laws of motion that govern our world, but decoding gravity was only part of Newton’s contribution. His other major mathematical preoccupation was calculus. Finally, we have been preparing arduously for Bradford Night, so students can showcase their knowledge of different songs and verses they have learned this year!

Upcoming Memory Work: 

Psalm 84:10

Upcoming:
  • Greek god Projects due November 13th, 2025
  • Bradford Night November 13th, 2025

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

This Week

This week, students explored the East–West Schism of the Church and discussed how this moment marked the first major division between the Eastern and Western Christian traditions and considered the lasting impact it had on the Church. In Math, students continued practicing area models and were introduced to the FOIL method—an important foundation for future algebraic thinking. We also worked toward greater mastery of multiplication algorithms. In Language Arts, we introduced the story chart, a tool students will use to organize and plan their writing—especially helpful as we prepare for the Burlington Writers Club. Students noticed that all stories, from Frog and Toad to Rolf and the Viking Bow, follow similar narrative patterns. We also practiced the fundamentals of punctuation and capitalization to strengthen clear written communication. It was a rich and productive week of learning together! 

Upcoming:
  • Bradford Night – 11/13
  • Hobbit Play – 11/14
  • Feudal System Projects – due 12/5

 

LOGIC SCHOOL

 

Mrs. Bennington

5th-6th Band
  • Fifth grade students worked hard this week on their first five notes. Students worked on these notes in various combinations in their concert music. 
  • Sixth grade students did a great job this week with their new concert music. Students had fun learning individual parts and then putting parts together. This is an exciting group to work with. 
7th-8th Band
  • Seventh and eighth grade students did a great job working on the piece, “Sleigh Ride”. Students are making really good progress. Students also worked on “Cannon for Christmas” and “Beyond the Bell Carol”. This group of students has a lot of potential and at home practice is helping each student have more confidence in their playing. 

Mrs. Johnston

5th – 8th Choir
  • The Choirs continued to read through concert music. We are making great progress, and are almost fully through all the music. Next week we will begin checking for memorization.

Miss Pugsley 

5th-8th Girls’ PE
  • This week we continued our soccer skill-building drills. We played capture the flag. On Wednesday, the girls ran a mile. Many of the girls have improved their mile times! In fifth and sixth grade especially, the girls did an excellent job encouraging one another. 

5th Grade (Mrs. LaTour and Miss Johnston) 

This Week
  • We continued to work on practicing for our Hobbit plays, including discussing costumes and doing a full run-through. We finished reading The Hobbit, which was bittersweet, and we discussed Thorin’s revelation, comparing it to Matthew 6:19. In Grammar, we reviewed the punctuation and capitalization rules, as well as learning our new vocab. In history, we learned about Roger Williams and discussed why he was banished from the Massachusetts Colony. We also talked about what is “the separation of church and state.” In science, we began learning about moon phases and tides. We introduced the moon journal and they are very excited to begin!
Memory Work: 

 Isaiah 40:3-4

Upcoming: 

Hobbit Day – Friday, 11/14/25

Mrs. Knight

5th Art
  • Fifth graders created a color wheel this week using watercolors. Each color showed a value gradation. We learned about watercolor techniques and attributes of watercolor as we worked to create colors with different values and mixed colors to fill in our color wheel. On Thursday, we learned about Johannes Vermeer, the artist of the quarter. We also learned about how “Vermeer blue” or ultramarine (Latin for “beyond the sea”) was made during Vermeer’s time, using lapis lazuli imported on the Silk Road from the mountains of Afghanistan. It was at times worth more than gold!

6th Grade (Mrs. McDorman and Miss Pugsley)

6th Reading and Literature
  • In Across Five Aprils, we finished reading chapters 10–12 and continued to see how the war is shaping the Creighton family, their loyalties, and their endurance. The emotional weight, political tension, and personal cost of the Civil War are becoming more evident as Jethro matures through hardship and responsibility.
6th Grammar and Writing
  • The students are brainstorming their creative writing stories and many of them have begun writing. They have such creative ideas and I’m excited to see where they go!
6th Bible
  • In Bible this week, we finished the book of Matthew and reflected on the death and resurrection of Christ. We discussed how this moment is the foundation of our faith and the true hope that anchors everything we believe.
6th History
  • In History, we studied our Civil War card which connected directly with our literature reading, helping students see how these events are shaping the characters’ lives in Across Five Aprils. This cross-disciplinary connection allowed them to better understand the cultural strain, national division, and real historical stakes behind the story.
6th Science
  • This week we studied bacterial structure. The students took Cornell notes on Tuesday.
6th Logic
  • This week we are learning about the fallacy of Appeal to the People! 

Mrs. Crotts

6th Math
  • We are trooping through Chapter 5–inequalities!  The students solve with 2 possible values for a variable to determine which inequality is true.  Each Friday students are allowed to write a song suggestion on the dry erase board to be considered for the class classical music list; it is a beautiful list of songs and they are beginning to add Christmas music.

Mrs. Wright

6th Latin
  • This week the 6th grade Latin students finished up Capitulum IV, took a practice pensa (test), did some extra review, and then finished the week by taking the Capitulum IV Pensa.  

Mrs. Palmer

6th Art
  • We continued to work on our colored pencil still life drawings this week. Students have been hard at work blending, color matching and creating accuracy.  

Dr. Wright

7th Omnibus
  • Students performed the Odyssey Play this week before the Bradford community.  They have rehearsed with zeal and tenacity while keeping up with omnibus reading and writing assignments.  Class declamation day is next week, and students should now have their entire speech memorized.  In Literature, we continue through Homer’s Odyssey, developing our skills of summarizing.  Students have quizzes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Work will begin soon on our Greek cultural object research papers. 

Mrs. Frueh

7th Science
  •  We wrapped up our unit on Earth’s structure with a lesson on the different types of mountains. We looked at some of the most famous mountain ranges in the world and discussed the differences in their structure. We examined both the evidence offered up by the perspective of uniformitarianism, as well as the evidence offered up by the perspective of catastrophism. Ask your student why the existence of fault-block mountains in the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevadas is evidence of a catastrophic global flood instead of slow, uniform changes over millions of years.
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. We also learned how to calculate the volume of simple right solids. We will slowly build on this skill with increasingly complex figures throughout the next few months. 

Mrs. Palmer 

7th Art
  • Students began working on their charcoal architectural drawings. They are aiming for accuracy and detail on these drawings. 

Mrs. Wright

7th Latin
  • This week the 7th grade Latin students finished up Capitulum IV, took a practice pensa (test), did some extra review, and took the Capitulum IV Pensa.  The class then moved into Capitulum V, translating section 1 learning about the Roman villa et hortus (home and garden).  This new chapter is challenging as it is packed with new grammar.  
7th Logic
  •  The 7th grade Logic class took a test this week and then moved into an overview on Red Herring fallacies.   

Dr. Wright

8th Omnibus 
  • Class declamation day is next week, and students should now have their entire speech memorized.  We continue to study the Anglo-Saxon period in England, and are reading through Beowulf.  Biographical research paper drafts have been returned to students, with teacher comments and corrections.  

Mrs. Wright

8th Latin
  • This week the 8th grade Latin students finished up Capitulum IV, took a practice pensa (test), did some extra review, and took the Capitulum IV Pensa.  The class then moved into Capitulum V, translating section 1 learning about the Roman villa et hortus (home and garden).  This new chapter is challenging as it is packed with new grammar.  

Mrs. Frueh

8th Science
  • We wrapped up our unit on the Kinetic Theory of Matter this week with a laboratory activity that investigated the related processes of diffusion and osmosis. Ask your student what they learned about the selective permeability of ziploc sandwich bags and how our investigation confirmed the Kinetic Theory of Matter.
8th Algebra I
  • We have continued our study of linear equations with more practice using slope-intercept form (y = mx + b). Students are now well-versed in producing linear equations from verbal descriptions, numerical tables and graphs. They have also learned how to produce linear equations given only two points on the graph without an intercept, as well as producing linear equations using function notation [f(x) = mx + b ].

Mrs. Palmer 

8th Art
  • This past week we wrapped up our magazine scrap famous artworks. These are proudly displayed at upper campus and we look forward to sharing them with you. 

RHETORIC SCHOOL

From the COLLEGE COUNSELING Office:

9th-12th: 
  • Individual meetings are available to discuss the college application process; email mcrotts@bradfordacademy.org to set up a time.  
  • Take the time before the busy holidays to update Activity Sheets to build student resumes.
  • Plan a college visit during the holidays!
Seniors:
  • Seniors have worked through the slow down caused by the joining of SCOIR and the Common App and high volume from the November 1 application due dates; we shared documents individually with prospective colleges.  These sites are now said to be up-to-speed at the week’s end.
  • Don’t forget to check in with recommenders and remind them of due dates and also share links to where the recommendations should be uploaded.
  • Don’t forget to thank those who have written recommendations.
Juniors:
  • Art students–build your portfolio!  Collect samples of your work to share with possible employees and colleges.
  • Begin brainstorming about job “shadowing” during school breaks.
  • Research scholarships and colleges and make lists for the 2nd semester.
  • Sign up for the ACT!  Let Mrs.Crotts know what date you are taking the ACT.
  • Sign up for dual enrollment elective classes at ACC or other colleges for the spring semester.

Mrs. Palmer 

9th Spanish 
  • Students reviewed for and took a chapter test. We received new vocabulary. Students also learned about -ER and -IR ending verbs and how to conjugate them. 

Coach Johnston

9th History
  • The students and I read and analyzed the Declaration of Independence this week before turning our attention to a quick summary of the key battles of the American War for Independence.

Ms. Oldham

9th Rhetoric I
  • Students worked on taking notes with their research sources on notecards. This is a tedious skill and one that they might have to continue to work on at home. Notecards are due on November 17th. 

Mrs. Frueh

9th Biology
  • We started our biochemistry unit this week with a quick review of basic chemistry, including the difference between atoms, elements, and molecules. We also investigated the difference between physical and chemical changes with a long-term laboratory experiment that will conclude next week. Ask your student about the changes they’ve observed in their eggs this week and what caused each change.

Mrs. Frueh

9th Geometry
  • We concluded our study of triangle congruence this week with the construction of ASA, AAS, CPCTC, and HL proofs. The students are becoming very adept at constructing logical proofs using the theorems we’ve discussed so far. 
  • We will have a Unit Exam on Triangle Congruence Proofs on Wednesday, November 12th.

Mrs. Crotts

9th Literature
  • 9th graders are in the thick of things honing declamation memory work and presentation skills.  They will present research about authors from the Modern time period November 20.  They will begin reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen next week..

Mrs. Fairchild 

9th – 11th Art Foundations
  • We are completing another watercolor project. They were assigned to paint different animals and this has proved to be challenging to be able to paint the variety of textures found in feathers, fur or even fish scales. Additionally, we had a lively discussion on The Death of Marat.  Be sure to ask your student about it.

Mrs. Bennington

9th-11th Band 
  • Advanced Band  students did a great job working on the piece, “Sleigh Ride”. Students are making really good progress. Students also worked on “Cannon for Christmas”,  “Beyond the Bell Carol”, and “All Is Calm”. This group of students has a lot of potential and at home practice is helping each student have more confidence in their playing. 

Mrs. Johnston

Bradford Chorale
  • We finished reading through concert music and were able to do full runs through them. We are also finishing up our transcription project and we look forward to singing the finished product after Declamation.

Dr. James

10th Chemistry
  • This week we began our lessons on chemical bonding, learning about different types of bonds and learning to draw Lewis structures of molecules based on the molecular formula. 
  • Next week we will continue our study of bonding, including an introduction to molecular orbital theory. 

Mrs. Palmer 

10th Spanish
  • Students reviewed for and took a chapter test. We received new vocabulary. Additionally, we learned the verbs “ir, ser and ver” in the imperfect tense. 

Mrs. Byrd

10th Algebra II
  • We’ve begun studying quadratic functions.  We are learning to graph them from various representations and solve them using factoring and other methods.

Mrs. Crotts

10th Literature
  • 10th Graders are challenged with reading the very important Old Testament book of Psalm in light of poetry.  Psalms are hymns to be sung and often corporately, expressing praise in joyful moments, and even after lament and regret.  They will write their own psalm.  Students will hear samples of chants, psalters, and even modern versions of psalms put to song such as U2’s “Psalm 40.”

Miss Oldham

10th Rhetoric II
  •  Students took a vocab quiz and picked topics for their second speeches. 

Coach Johnston

10th History
  • The students and I have begun to focus our attention on reading Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War. We read about Sparta and Athens’ reasons for going to war. We concluded the week by considering Pericles’ “Funeral Oration” and his defense of democracy.

Dr. Smith

10th Historical Theology 
  • We are beginning our focus on the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, which will culminate in our looking at the Nicene Creed. 
11th Precalculus
  • We concluded our unit on rational functions and are beginning a study of exponential functions.

Miss Oldham

11th Literature
  •  Students began reading Shakespeare with Othello. 

Mrs. Wright

11th NT Greek
  • The 11th grade Greek students continued working with the 1st and 2nd person personal pronouns from  chapter 11.  They worked through the charts, vocabulary, parsing, and translations that accompany this chapter.  

Mr. Webster

11th History
  •  This week the students learned about the emergence of feudalism and how it came to dominate western civilization in the ninth century. The students also took a quiz on the first half of chapter 8 in the textbook. 

Dr. Smith

11th-12th Apologetics
  • We have been looking at the advantages and disadvantages of thinking about Christianity as a worldview and are now focusing on what constitutes a Christian worldview.

Coach Johnston

12th History
  • Students concluded their study material on America’s early republic. We will begin preparing for a test next Wednesday (11/12).

Ms. Oldham

12th Literature
  •   Students continued to read Hamlet and watch the film version. 
12th Rhetoric III
  •  Seniors have a draft due on November 21st. Please be in prayer for them as they navigate writing a thesis, I know they will do well. 

Mrs. Byrd

12th Calculus
  • We’ve started working on some contextual applications of derivatives including velocity and acceleration and related rates.