News and Notes - September 5, 2017

BUA NEWS AND NOTES
September 5, 2017

A Note from Dr. Ari M. Betof, Head of School

Dear BUA Community,

To all new students and families – welcome to BUA! And to everyone else – welcome back! It is wonderful to have students and faculty in the BUA building once again.

I hope you enjoyed a restful, relaxing, and restorative summer. For those that are new to BUA, News and Notes is a weekly electronic newsletter that is sent to all students and families every Tuesday. News and Notes is a forum for highlighting the accomplishments of our students, faculty, alumni, and broader BUA community, as well as a place to find recaps of BUA activities and to get a preview of upcoming events and important dates. You can also find a listing of my open office hours in each issue, and I welcome you to stop by during these times. If you have news to share, please make sure you pass it along to our Associate Director of Institutional Advancement for Marketing and Communications Elisha Meyer at emmeyer@bu.edu.

In this space, you will hear from different members of our community each week: teachers, staff, students, and alumni. I will share updates or communicate important announcements from time to time. But it is important to me that you hear from the many distinct voices and perspectives that make BUA such a vibrant place.

If you don’t already, I invite you to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter so you can enjoy a window into life at BUA between weekly editions of News and Notes.

As we embark on BUA’s milestone 25th academic year, we are excited to welcome new students, teachers and staff; to dive into our All-School Learning Experience on race and mass incarceration; to launch the second year of our Modern Language Pilot program; and to share the results of our New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) reaccreditation process with you (spoiler alert: we passed!). I look forward to telling you more about these and other projects at Back-to-School Night next Monday, September 11 (a full schedule of the evening is below).

Once again, welcome (back) to BUA – I’m looking forward to a wonderful year!

Best,

Dr. Ari M. Betof
Head of School

Announcements and Accolades

Welcome from the BUA Parents' Network

Welcome to the start of our new academic year! The BUA Parents' Network (BUAPN) is ready to kick off the year and we look forward to having our seasoned and new parents join us for meetings, programming, and social events!

Our first meeting will be held on Wednesday, Sept 27 @ 8:00 a.m. in the GSU Academy Room. A live stream will be available.

Our Google Groups email list is there for anyone to share information about activities and events. Just email bua-families@googlegroups.com.

If anyone is interested in helping out with the Parents' Network, please feel free to reach out to me at ksgrat@gmail.com. A parent survey will be sent out in the coming weeks to help determine our programming for this year and describe leadership roles we would like to fill.

Best,
Karen Gratiano P’20
Chair, BUAPN

Back-to-School Night: September 11, 2017

We look forward to seeing you for this all-school event.

Dr. Betof will address the school community in his Annual Head of School Address. Afterwards, parents will get a taste of a day in the life of their child with classroom rotations in the BUA building. Seniors and their parents will kick off the year with cake and punch in the Metcalf Ballroom immediately following the Head of School address. Please note that all BUA students are expected to attend Back-to-School Night.

The full schedule of events is as follows:

3:45-5:00 p.m.: Student Activities Fair (students only) -- Sargent Gym
5:00 p.m.: Pizza dinner for all BUA students -- Sargent Gym
5:00 p.m: Camp Burgess Info Session (parents of 9s and 10s only) -- BUA Building, Rm 115
5:00 p.m: Registration opens, light refreshments served -- Metcalf Ballroom, George Sherman Union, 775 Commonwealth Ave
6:00 p.m: Annual Head of School Address -- Metcalf Ballroom
6:35 p.m: Depart Metcalf Ballroom for BUA
6:45 p.m: Senior Kickoff -- Metcalf Ballroom (seniors and their parents only)
6:50-8:30 p.m: Classroom rotations at BUA

Parking: Please note that complimentary parking for Back-to-School Night will be available for all BUA families at the Upper Bridge Lot (Lot H) directly adjacent to BUA. Overflow parking will be at Warren Towers Parking Lot (Lot K), 700 Commonwealth Avenue. Your name will be on a list with the parking attendant - just give your name and tell him/her that you are attending a BU Academy event.

Faculty Summer Experiences

Over the summer, our faculty and staff embarked on a variety of travel, learning, and teaching experiences - as well as achieved some personal milestones! Below is a sampling of their activities:

Mark Alonge, Classics and History Teacher:

"I went to Hungary (the ancient Roman province of Pannonia) for three weeks. I also had a book review published. The book is a student reader of medieval Latin texts. I field-tested about a dozen of the passages with last year's Latin II students, and the review relies heavily on their experience."

Ellen Evans, Assistant Director of College Counseling and University Liaison:

"I dropped my eldest off at college at Pomona, and was able to connect with a few admissions colleagues while at the Claremont Colleges - I continue to be a huge fan of the 5Cs! I also saw Hamilton out in L.A."

Nastaran Hakimi, Director of Admission:

"I got married!"

Brett Abigaña, Music Instructor:

"For the first week of August, I was Composer In Residence for the St. Margaret’s Youth Steel Orchestra in Port of Spain, Trinidad. During the week, I worked with the orchestra on a new piece of mine, which premiered at Napa Hall in Port of Spain. I also taught workshops and lessons with Dr. Jimmy Finney, Professor of Percussion at Indiana State University, and Dr. Dawn Batson, Professor of Percussion at Florida Memorial University. I ate an incredible amount of ridiculously spicy food and hung out with my new Trini friends."

Paige Brewster, Director of Operations and Special Projects:

"I’ve finally started taking classes at BU – Family and Community Engagement as well as Adolescent Development -- toward my EdM."

Victoria Perrone, Director of Student Life and Chemistry Teacher:

"I traveled to Brazil in June and visited Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. I enjoyed pão de queijo (cheese bread), picanha, água de côco, and amazing pineapple."

Jill Atkinson, Director of College Counseling:

"I was a Player Services volunteer at the Connecticut Open tennis tournament for the eighth year in a row. On eclipse day – thanks to Mr. Garber’s distribution of eclipse glasses at the year-end meeting – I was able to share a glimpse of the event with several of the top female tennis players in the world, including Elena Vesnina (#18 in the world, and 2016 Olympic gold medalist in women’s doubles), Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (2017 Australian Open semifinalist), Kirsten Flipkens (2013 Wimbledon semifinalist), Kiki Mladenovic (currently #13 in the world), young American players Lauren Davis and Christina McHale, French player Alize Cornet, Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, and my favorite – Roberta Vinci of Italy."

Dr. Betof's Open Office Hours

Stop by for a chat with Head of School Dr. Ari Betof:

Wednesday, September 6: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Tuesday, September 13: 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 21: 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, September 26: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.