BB 12-15-2023
BRADFORD BULLETIN
VOLUME XVI, ISSUE 21
Dec 15, 2023
FROM THE OFFICE
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- 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!)
- Full Day Camp on MLK Day – Seniors are offering a Full Day Camp on our next day off, Mon, 1/15! Register here. We hope this will be a great service to working parents who need childcare. (Camp will be canceled by Wed 1/10/24 if there is insufficient interest.)
- 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!
UPCOMING
- Wed, 12/20 – TK Nativity Play – parents welcome!
- Thurs, 12/21 –
- End of 2nd quarter
- NOON DISMISSAL – Christmas break commences!
- Reminder: No Moms’ Helper or Bradford Plus on early dismissal days.
- Fri, 12/22 – Fri, 01/05: CHRISTMAS BREAK
IN THE NEAR FUTURE:
- Fri, 1/5: HOME Varsity Basketball games, starting at 5pm – Seniors and Alumni are invited to the Johnston house afterwards for dessert.
- Mon, 1/8: School is back in session. 1st day of 3rd quarter
- Mon, 1/15: MLK day – no school. Seniors are offering a Full Day Camp! Register here.
- Fri, 1/26: 4th – 8th Spelling Bee
- Mon, 1/29: House Shirt day and Senior Night at basketball
- 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. (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
- This week in TK was spent rehearsing for our nativity performance and reviewing concepts learned this year. Students are excited to perform next week! Our letters of the week this week were G and Q. We practiced writing these letters, talked about their sounds and brought several items for show & tell that began with these letters. In the centers this week we completed a journal about favorite things to do at Christmas, we ordered number cards and played letter & number bingo. We finished the story of Jesus and all that surrounded his birth. The focus was on the star that God put in the sky and the Wise Men who followed the star. The students made books to tell the story of the nativity which they brought home this week. We are looking forward to a fun week to end the quarter next week!
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, play several rounds of Bingo, and various tag games.
Lower School Music (Mrs. Bennington)
K-3rd
- Students worked on our hymn for the quarter, “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Students learned part of the harmony line for this piece as well. We also worked on several other Christmas Carols in preparation for Christmas. Students did a great job.
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 ended classes by playing several songs on the recorder and singing “O Come All Ye Faithful”.
Lower School Art (Mrs. Palmer)
3rd
- This week students worked on finishing up their self portraits. We inked these and used our medium of watercolor. We talked about the appropriate water to paint ratio and about obtaining translucency.
4th
- This week students worked on finishing up their mixed media seasonal drawings. We used watercolor and talked about the appropriate water to paint ratio. We also focused on obtaining translucency in our paintings.
Kindergarten (Mrs. Rivera and Miss Burdeshaw)
This Week:
- Our kindergarten scholars have been eager and excited for our upcoming Christmas break starting next Thursday! In math, we learned how to write the numbers 1-10, how to identify pairs, how to write money amounts using the cent symbol, how to pay for items using dimes and pennies, how to graph pieces used to cover a design, how to read a graph, and how to identify ordinal position to 26. In phonics, we reviewed all of our phonograms and our reader, “To The Rim Of The Map.” In history, we have been reviewing our timeline and have been discussing the birth of Christ. As Christmas day fast approaches, we want to reiterate the most important reason we celebrate, which is Jesus.
Memory Work:
- 1 Corinthians 14:40 and review
1st Grade (Mrs. Morgan & Mrs. Smith)
This Week:
- We have had many fun new concepts in math this week! The students made polygons on a geoboard and identified angles of polygons, measured to the nearest foot, drew a number line, located points on a number line, and drew line segments. They read about the Sailing Saint – A monk who sailed from Ireland to North America in a skin boat. The kids loved the part where the monks mistook a whale for an island and tried to light a fire on its back! We discussed the link between the travel of the monks in this book and the travel of Leif Erickson and Christopher Columbus. They all took similar navigational travels. In science we continued our study of the classification of animals and learned about the Tufted Titmouse. In art, we practiced math using the line of symmetry to draw a gingerbread man. History has us learning about William Bradford and other pilgrims. Our ancestors were brave!
Memory Work:
- Psalm 1:1-6
2nd Grade (Mrs. Hedgecock & Mrs. Eng)
This Week:
- The countdown to Christmas continues with daily treats for the students. It is a joy to see how eager and enthusiastic the students are to learn and how much they enjoy their classmates. Joseph has given us an opportunity to see how God has a plan and HE is working it out! Imagine being sold as a slave and put in prison then God using that to save your family. We were all delighted to finish Sarah, Plain and Tall to learn that Sarah would stay with Papa, Anna and Caleb. Patricia MacLachlan is a good author, and the public library has many of her other books that the students would enjoy reading. In math we have worked with three- and four-digit numbers emphasizing correct place value. Pretending to be Rembrandt and coloring some of his famous paintings has been a challenge as we try to imitate his use of light and shadow. Those students in the Leiden House were excited to learn that Rembrandt was born in Leiden – a fact they won’t soon forget. In spelling it has been a challenge as we learn to add suffixes to words, but little by little these rules are becoming more automatic.
Memory Work:
- Proverbs 25: 6-10
3rd Grade (Mrs. McDorman and Mrs. Meredith)
This Week
- This week in Latin, we learned two types of sentence patterns: sentence pattern A and B. Learning another language helps broaden our understanding of our own language and gives us a bigger picture of the world around us. In history, we learned about the Classical Period, and its roots in ancient Greece, as well as its continuing influence on modern society. Much of the early politics, art, philosophy, literature, and theater derives from this “Golden Age” in Athens. Pericles, the most famous politician at that time, helped Athens to become the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world. Athen’s growing influence caused the Spartans to feel threatened. Thus, leading to the Peloponnesian War, which lasted for 30 years. Athens was eventually conquered by Sparta. Students had the opportunity to compare the ancient Greek city-states of Athens of Sparta, and discovered they were vastly different. Ask your student if they would rather be a Spartan or Athenian citizen! In science, we launched balloon rockets to demonstrate Newton’s Third Law of Motion.
Memory Work:
- Continue reviewing 2nd quarter verses
4th Grade (Mrs. Burtram and Miss Abrahamsen)
This Week
- We had a wonderful week engaging in culminating activities with Literature. The students worked together creating a poster that is visually appealing displaying character traits displayed in The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe along with quotes and artwork from the book. We enjoyed watching their development with their presentation skills. We learned about how to change a whole number to a fraction in order to subtract, and learned about probability. We ended the week with a comprehensive exam that will be used as an assessment tool as we plan lessons for next semester. Students were introduced to Reader’s Theatre and learned about fluency. We also learned about analogies and how to find the relationship between words. We completed a service project baking cookies and creating food bags for Meet Me at the Bridge Ministry. We read a beautiful story about serving in Christ. We learned about story elements and created our own Christmas story. In forum time we continued learning about the names of Jesus and journaling our discoveries.
- Upcoming: Middle Ages Week
LOGIC SCHOOL
Mrs. Bennington
5th-6th Band
- Students did a great job preparing for our Christmas Concert this week! The students worked so hard and sounded great! The Christmas concert was a great success!
7th-9th Band
- Students did a great job preparing for our Christmas Concert this week! The students worked so hard and sounded great! The Christmas concert was a great success!
Mrs. Campbell
5th-8th Chorus
- The week was full of excitement with dress rehearsal and putting the final touches on our Christmas songs for the concert. I am so proud of each student and the effort they put forth!
Mr. Webster
5th-8th Boys’ PE
- This week the boys played dodgeball.
Miss Stevenson
5th-8th Girls’ PE
- This week the 7th and 8th grade girls played soccer, and the 5th and 6th grade girls played kickball.
5th Grade (Mrs. Owens)
This Week
- This week our students began to learn about colonial trading as they prepare to make something and bring it into trade and barter with other students. The students are continuing to work on their idea for the creative writing story and soon we will begin to write our first draft. In grammar the students learned how to make both a singular and plural noun into a possessive noun. This skill will prove very useful as they continue to write their story. Students presented their element project to wrap up the chemistry lessons and the students go to participate in an “Ask Mrs. Frueh” lesson. Students brought all of their burning chemistry questions and go to dive deeper with Mrs. Frueh on a few different topics. Lastly in math we reviewed decimal arithmetic and then began to reduce fractions by grouping factors equal to 1.
Memory Work:
- Colossians 3:23-24 (this week)
- Review all verses (next week)
Mrs. Palmer
5th Art
- This week students finished up their mixed media seasonal drawings. We used watercolor for these and focused on the proper paint to water ratio as well as translucency.
Mrs. Kromhout
5th Latin
- Fifth grade took their final test over new material on Tuesday, and then spent the rest of the week doing a variety of fun review games to solidify the material we have learned during this quarter!
6th Grade (Miss Stevenson)
6th Reading and Literature
- This week we continued to work through Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
6th Grammar and Writing
- We started working on an in-class persuasive essay this week.
6th Bible
- We are continuing to work our way through the gospel of Luke.
6th History
- We took a break from our History cards this week. We will pick back up with the Transcontinental Railroad card when we get back from Christmas break.
6th Science
- We took our second-quarter Science test this week. Any make-ups will need to be done by Wednesday.
6th Logic
- We discussed the slippery slope fallacy and took a quiz on the fallacies that we have studied up to this point.
Mr. Hunter
6th Latin
- This week the students reviewed the theme vowels of all four conjugations and learned about Tertullian.
Mrs. Frueh
6th Math
- This week, the students learned how to apply the order of operations to simplify complex expressions. We also practiced using Rate/Actual boxes to solve rate and ratio problems.
Mrs. Palmer
6th Art
- We have continued to work on our seasonal colored pencil drawings this week. Students are aiming to color match correctly (find the nuances in color change), blend well and create detail. These are coming along nicely!
Mrs. Crotts
7th Grammar and Writing
- Students wrote a quick three paragraph introduction to a story and then exchanged with a classmate to determine if the thesis statement was obvious. Secondly, they determined if there were clear transitions.
7th Omnibus
- Literature: Students spent the better part of the week writing creatively. They wrote a short story and had to share it with a classmate. The classmate was tasked with determining whether or not the thesis sentence was clear and obvious and also did the student use good transitions moving from point to point. The other major creative writing assignment revolved around C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I placed a picture of a lamppost in the snow and also of a wardrobe and they had to write about symbolism for one activity. For another, they had to write a new adventure based on the pictures.
- History: Students were introduced to Herodotus’ Histories. They also had to write a “history” about a favorite toy…in Herodotus style. (He wasn’t always accurate and included hearsay.)
- Bible/Theology: We read more of the book of Isaiah and discussed the hope and blessing of Christ’s coming…light in the darkness.
Mr. Johnston
7th Logic
- Our young scholars discussed “Irrelevant Goals or Functions” and “The Irrelevant Thesis” this week. These two fallacies both distract from the real issue of an argument. Our students are making great progress seeing and naming the many ways bad arguments are made.
Mrs. Frueh
7th Science
- We wrapped up our Earthquake unit with an exam. After learning about the different types of seismic waves produced by quakes we were finally able to answer the question asked at the beginning of the quarter: “How do we know about the layers of the Earth if we’ve never dug beneath the crust?” See if your student can explain it to you.
7th Pre-Algebra
- This week we started solving for an unknown in 2-step equations. This is a foundational skill for all future math courses. Daily practice of this skill is key to mastering this concept.
Mrs. Palmer
7th Art
- We have continued to work on our seasonal colored pencil drawings this week. Students are aiming to color match correctly (find the nuances in color change), blend well and create detail. These are coming along nicely!
Mr. Hunter
7th Latin
- This week students reviewed the forms of positive and negative imperatives and the new vocabulary. We also read portions of Luke 2 from the Vulgate.
Mrs. Kromhout
8th Omnibus
- History: We spent our week in history finishing our study of Charlemagne and reviewing for our test on Friday!
- Literature: Students continue reading Fellowship of the Ring, and they have had excellent questions and discussions about the ring, the characters, and the plot.
- Composition: Students finished their final drafts of their Augustine essays! We also reviewed the difference between their, there, and they’re.
Mr. Hunter
8th Latin
- This week students reviewed both the forms of the imperative and the vocabulary. They were also introduced to Tertullian and read selections from Luke 2 in the Vulgate.
Mrs. Frueh
8th Science
- We wrapped up our mechanics unit with a lesson on acceleration. Since acceleration is a change in velocity over time and is a vector measurement, there are actually three ways for an object to accelerate. Ask your student if they can name all three.
8th Algebra I
- Last week, we learned how to solve a system of equations to determine the point at which two linear equations intersect. This week, we extended this skill by solving systems of equations when the original equations need to be rearranged first.
Mrs. Palmer
8th Art
- We have continued to work on our seasonal colored pencil drawings this week. Students are aiming to color match correctly (find the nuances in color change), blend well and create detail. These are coming along nicely!
Mr. Crotts
8th Logic
- We are wrapping up the first half of our course of study by taking a unit test.
- On Monday, December 12 at 11:45 A.M., our class will be having pizza & drinks (provided) and then enjoy fun activities during our 12:30 – 1:35 class time.
RHETORIC SCHOOL
From the COLLEGE COUNSELING Office:
Upcoming for 8th-12th:
- Bradford Alumni College Panel – Wednesday, December 20th, 1:30-2:30pm
- Several of our Bradford alumni (college freshman through seniors!) have graciously agreed to come back to Bradford to talk to our students about college life, their college experiences, and what they learned throughout the college search and application process! We are excited to have them back with us and to hear their wisdom.
Juniors:
- I met with the juniors this week to discuss their current three action items:
- Continue to develop their list of 8-10 colleges of interest
- Sign up for the ACT and/or SAT for the spring; I encourage them to take both tests in early spring so they have time to take one test once more in late spring/early summer
- Talk with parents about finances (if they have not already done so)
- I will continue meeting individually with each of the juniors; we will discuss as many of these questions as we are able in our half hour!
- Parents, it would be helpful for you to look over this list of questions as well and think about whether you have talked with your student about these items.
- I am meeting with about half the students in December, and the other half in January; I may also schedule some follow ups in February and March as needed
- I am encouraging the juniors to spend some time over Christmas break reflecting/talking/journaling about their priorities for college and beyond.
Mrs. Palmer
9th Spanish
- We have completed our chapter on stem-changing verbs and have continued to review both new and old vocabulary. Students will have their next chapter test after Christmas break.
Coach Johnston
9th History
- Students took a constitution quiz in the middle of the week. We are now briefly studying the thirty years following the constitutional convention (1787-1815) to see how America would become established as a new country. We’ll consider inventions, political parties, mistakes, corrections and a few small wars.
Mrs. Frueh
9th Geometry
- We wrapped up our unit on quadrilaterals with a unit exam. Students are also working on their bridge designs which will be completed in January.
Mr. Crotts
9th Logic
- Our studies have brought us into a difficult stretch in propositional logic and we are meeting the challenge well!
- In order to have fun while learning rules of logic, we give everything a funny name to make it more memorable. Ask your student which rule of inference they represent!
Mrs. Fairchild
9th Advanced Art
- Our students were practicing their watercolor skills by doing a timed and shared project. This stretched them a bit, but in the end they saw the benefit of having to make decisions quickly and not overthinking it.
Mrs. Hicks
9th Biology
- This week we played review games that students created! I was so impressed with the work they put in and how creative they were! They also completed the test on Module 6.
Mrs. Crotts
9th Literature
- Students finished final tweeks to their author research paper. I enjoyed reading them and learned a great deal about authors and am actually inspired to read a few extra books during Christmas Break! We also enjoyed part 1 and 2 of 3 of the BBC version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Dr. Byrd
9th-10th Bible Survey
- Over these weeks we have been working on the Wisdom Literature – Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. Presently, we are studying Proverbs and focusing on how we gain wisdom from the Lord. We have been studying Proverbs 2 and have begun to focus on the fear of the Lord.
- Students have been working on memorizing Colossians 1:1-5.
Dr. James
10th Chemistry
- This week the students took their third test of Q2. We then reviewed tests 1 and 2 to help them prepare for the final exam.
- Next week the students will take the final exam; it will be over in a snap, and they’ll settle their brains for a long winter’s nap.
Mrs. Palmer
10th Spanish
- This week we reviewed irregular preterite verbs. Students took a test on these irregular verbs. We also continued to review past vocabulary.
Mrs. Byrd
10th Algebra II
- Topics of the week include simplifying complex fractions, simplifying expressions with complex numbers, rationalizing radical denominators, and working with scientific notation on the calculator. We will close out next week with an introduction to the Quadratic Formula and a Laws of Exponents Bingo Game.
Mrs. Crotts
10th Literature
- Students worked in two groups to read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. One team was responsible for the first half of the book, and the other the other half. Each student chose a chapter to summarize and share with their team; the team leader prepared a summary with the team’s assistance and will present to the class Monday, Lord willing. Also, 4 daily journal entries will be due for grading Monday. They will receive their final grades for the author research paper soon.
Miss Oldham
10th Rhetoric I
- Students gave their final speeches on Thursday and have a final exam on Tuesday.
Coach Johnston
10th History
- This week students took a short quiz regarding the cultural and political institutes of Sparta. While there were virtues to admire, students were challenged to recognize how Sparta’s government held absolute power over its citizens and slaves. We considered the benefits and the costs of this system of government. We are also reading the major speeches that Thucydides records in his Peloponnesian War as both the Spartans and then the Athenians will commit to a decades-long war against one another.
10th PE
- Students spent extra time this week preparing for final tests and semester exams. We also played short basketball sessions on Tuesday and Thursday.
Mrs. Byrd
11th Precalculus
- We’ve concluded our unit on Exponential and Log Functions and begin a study of Trig Functions. One of our first topics is learning a new notation – radian measure and practicing taking trig ratios of an angle in any quadrant.
11th Physics
- Our study of work and energy will conclude early next week. Students are also perfecting their egg drop devices. The winning team will be selected based on egg survival, proximity to target, and using a minimum of materials. Our competition is planned for Wednesday prior to Christmas break.
Miss Oldham
11th Literature
- Students finished Romeo and Juliet and gave their final presentations this week. They have a final exam on Monday.
Mr. Webster
11th History
- This week we finished up the unit and took our unit test.
Mr. Hunter
11th NT Greek
- This week students reviewed the third declension and began learning the first and second person personal pronouns. We also briefly discussed the Didache and Clement of Rome.
Mrs. Fairchild
11th Elective: Portfolio
- Our students are continuing their work on their medieval embroidery project and working out the detailed designs.
Coach Johnston
11th-12th Elective: Military History
- Students finished their semester overview of World War II this week and have begun to prepare for oral assessments next week. We concluded this course by summarizing and assessing the opposing arguments regarding the necessity, efficacy and morality of America’s decision to use the atomic bomb.
Mrs. Palmer
11th-12th Elective: Spanish 3 / ESL
- Students reviewed all past verb tenses they have learned in Spanish. They also took their final exam. Next week we will plan to have chai and conversación en español!
Dr. Smith
11th-12th Apologetics & Philosophy
- Students have been presenting an oral summary of their book reviews this week. If they have not already told you, ask them about the book they read and what they thought about it.
Coach Johnston
12th History
- Students have briefly surveyed the thirty years following the ratification of the US Constitution. We have briefly considered how many of these challenges were caused or exacerbated by the Napoleonic Wars. Our next topic will be to overview America’s Antebellum Era (1820-1860).
Miss Oldham
12th Literature
- Students wrapped up The Importance of Being Earnest this week. They have a final exam on Monday.
12th Rhetoric II
- Please pray for our seniors! They are feeling the crunch of the semester and emotions are running high. The break is much needed and prayers to get them there are also much needed.
Mrs. Byrd
12th Calculus
- Students have worked through several analytical applications of differentiation including the challenging “Optimization” problems. We are just beginning the second major section of our course – Integration. Thinking of integration as an accumulation of area as well as a Riemann Sum will help us grasp the basic concept of integration before getting to the technical definition.
Mrs. Hicks
12th Anatomy
- Students completed a test about blood. Ask them how often someone in the US needs a blood transfusion. We also did some review activities, we will start a new unit after break!