Burgundy Farm Country Day School
Encyclopedia
Burgundy Farm Country Day School is a progressive independent school on a 25 acres (101,171.5 m²) campus in Alexandria, Virginia, and 500 acres (2 km²) in West Virginia
. It serves nearly 300 students in grades Junior Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. The school's primary campus is located on a former dairy farm just outside the Washington, DC/Northern Virginia beltway.
The school opened in 1946 having been founded and guided by (among others) noted broadcast journalist Eric Sevareid
. In 1950, Burgundy became the first school in the Commonwealth of Virginia to racially integrate.
In the spirit of its parent-cooperative roots, Burgundy provides an innovative, collaborative, diverse, and hands-on learning environment in which teachers, students, and parents engage together as partners. Burgundy’s nurturing creative school culture cultivates a love of learning and teaches students how to learn. The school instills respect for diversity and teaches responsibility for self, for other people, and for the natural world.
Burgundy’s philosophy of education honors the individual student by honoring the whole child – social, emotional, and physical aspects as well as the academic. Burgundy’s approach to learning rarely relies exclusively on the traditional text book; instead learning is an active, student-centered, and usually cooperative enterprise. The Burgundy teachers aim to facilitate learning using an integrated curriculum that emphasizes the relationship of ideas and encourages students to construct their own understanding and solutions to real-life questions.
Burgundy teachers strive to differentiate instruction and assessment in order to respect and nurture each student, while helping students to begin to understand themselves as learners. Burgundy teachers and students are fortunate to have a twenty-five acre Alexandria
Virginia
campus that includes a barn with goats, sheep, and chickens, a pond, woods and trails, extensive arts spaces, a large field, an outdoor pool, and classrooms that open to the outdoors.
The Center also hosts nature-oriented summer camp programs for children ages 8-15 and for adults.
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. It serves nearly 300 students in grades Junior Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. The school's primary campus is located on a former dairy farm just outside the Washington, DC/Northern Virginia beltway.
The school opened in 1946 having been founded and guided by (among others) noted broadcast journalist Eric Sevareid
Eric Sevareid
Arnold Eric Sevareid was a CBS news journalist from 1939 to 1977. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents—dubbed "Murrow's Boys"—because they were hired by pioneering CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow....
. In 1950, Burgundy became the first school in the Commonwealth of Virginia to racially integrate.
In the spirit of its parent-cooperative roots, Burgundy provides an innovative, collaborative, diverse, and hands-on learning environment in which teachers, students, and parents engage together as partners. Burgundy’s nurturing creative school culture cultivates a love of learning and teaches students how to learn. The school instills respect for diversity and teaches responsibility for self, for other people, and for the natural world.
Burgundy’s philosophy of education honors the individual student by honoring the whole child – social, emotional, and physical aspects as well as the academic. Burgundy’s approach to learning rarely relies exclusively on the traditional text book; instead learning is an active, student-centered, and usually cooperative enterprise. The Burgundy teachers aim to facilitate learning using an integrated curriculum that emphasizes the relationship of ideas and encourages students to construct their own understanding and solutions to real-life questions.
Burgundy teachers strive to differentiate instruction and assessment in order to respect and nurture each student, while helping students to begin to understand themselves as learners. Burgundy teachers and students are fortunate to have a twenty-five acre Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
campus that includes a barn with goats, sheep, and chickens, a pond, woods and trails, extensive arts spaces, a large field, an outdoor pool, and classrooms that open to the outdoors.
Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies at Cooper’s Cove
Burgundy's second campus, a wildlife preserve in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia called Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies, is commonly referred to as "the Cove." All classes, beginning with first grade, visit the Cove for intensive study in science and natural history biannually.The Center also hosts nature-oriented summer camp programs for children ages 8-15 and for adults.
Notable alumni
- Alex AlbrechtAlex AlbrechtAlexander Jennings Albrecht is an American television personality, actor and podcaster who resides in Brentwood a suburb of Los Angeles, California...
— American television personality, actor and podcaster - Robert C. MichelsonRobert C. MichelsonRobert C. Michelson is an American engineer and academic widely known for inventing the entomopter, a biologically inspired flapping-winged aerial robot, and for having established the International Aerial Robotics Competition. He has received degrees in electrical engineering from the Virginia...
, '65 — Principal Research Engineer Emeritus, Georgia Institute of TechnologyGeorgia Institute of TechnologyThe Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
; Recipient of the 2001 Pirelli AwardPirelli Internetional AwardThe Pirelli Internetional Award was first offered in 1996, as the first international multimedia competition for the communication of science & technology conducted entirely on the internet. Since then, annual awards have been granted to the best multimedia presentations focussing on themes...
and the first €25,000 Top Pirelli PrizePirelli Internetional AwardThe Pirelli Internetional Award was first offered in 1996, as the first international multimedia competition for the communication of science & technology conducted entirely on the internet. Since then, annual awards have been granted to the best multimedia presentations focussing on themes...
; progenitor of the field of aerial roboticsInternational Aerial Robotics CompetitionThe International Aerial Robotics Competition began in 1991 on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology and is the longest running university-based robotics competition in the world... - Jim Sanborn, '59 - American sculptor best known for creating the Kryptos sculpture at the CIA headquarters