November 10, 2022
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Fifth graders research neurodiversity and start work on creating websites on a related topic.
Opening Message
State of the School 2022
Brendan Largay, Head of School
Post Date: November 10, 2022
Last evening we gathered in the Palandjian Arts Center for the State of the School 2022. As the Ancient Roman god Janus–famously looking both forward and back–as our guide, I offered an assessment of where we’ve been this past year and an outlook for the future we are working to create. It was a thrill to be surrounded by our families and my colleagues and share in this ongoing discussion of the state of our school.
If you were unable to attend, I encourage you to watch the recording below. I challenged the audience in the PAC with an exercise in “thinking big” for the future of education: Where do you want to go? What do you want to learn when you get there? What questions will you ask? If you jump in on this brainstorming and want to share and discuss, please get in touch. Email or call me, or just stop me in the hallway!
Thank you all for being an active part, every day, of the inspiring state of our school community.
Upcoming Events
Coming Up This Week
Monthly Calendar
Parent Forum: Social-Emotional Learning
Thursday, November 17
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Belmont Day School
Julia Martin Burch, Ph.D., consulting psychologist to Belmont Day, and school counselor Joshua Sussman, LMHC, will host an in-person parent workshop, “Supporting Your Child in the Aftermath of the Pandemic.” The workshop will focus on the current state of youth mental health as well as “typical” behaviors in the fall of 2022. It will also cover concrete, easy-to-implement tips around communication, support, and resources for struggling kids. Parent and guardians of students in all grade levels are invited to attend.
Admissions: Virtual Open House
Saturday, November 19
9:00 to 10:30 a.m.
Our next admissions event–the Virtual Open House is coming up soon! Please tell your friends, neighbors, and family members who may be interested in learning about independent school education.
Our knowledgeable and expert faculty will share their unique approaches to engaging students. They will provide a glimpse into how they guide each student on their educational journey—from overall skill development, research, public speaking, and more—that ultimately culminates in each eighth grader’s Capstone project and presentation. You will also hear from our head of school, administrators, and a panel of student speakers. Pre-registration is required.
Thanksgiving Assembly & Early Dismissal
Tuesday, November 22
Assembly from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
School Closes at 12:30 p.m.
Join us in the Barn gym for the annual Thanksgiving Assembly.
The assembly will include a Thanksgiving memory from a faculty member, presentations from various grades, and an acknowledgment of the Native land we are on as a school community.
School will dismiss for the Thanksgiving Break at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday—no extended day or after school program.
Lunch & Snack Menu
November 14 to November 18
Monday
Snack: fruit cup; Goldfish/Cheez-Its
Lunch: ravioli with marinara; penne with marinara; gluten-free pasta with marinara: crusty rolls; Romano cheese; broccoli; greens with balsamic; fresh fruit; canned fruit; yogurt; milk and water
Tuesday
Snack: bananas; Popcorners
Lunch: coconut-crusted redfish; citrus roasted redfish; vegan nuggets; tartar sauce; sweet potato fries; ketchup; green beans; garden salad with tomatoes and ranch dressing; fresh fruit; canned fruit; yogurt; milk and water
Wednesday
Snack: clementines; banana oatmeal rounds
Lunch: Friendsgiving Lunch: carved turkey; herb tofu; mashed potatoes; gravy; cranberry sauce; peas; spinach salads with goat cheese and cranberries; fresh fruit; canned fruit; yogurt; milk and water
Thursday
Snack: pears; pretzel twists
Lunch: cheese pizza; pepperoni pizza; gluten-free cheese pizza; roasted butternut squash; Caesar salad; fresh fruit; canned fruit; yogurt; milk, water, and cider
Friday
Snack: apple slices; Kettle Chips
Faculty Lunch
For a more detailed and updated weekly menu, please click the button below.
BDS News
COMMUNITY NEWS
Thank You, Veterans!
The last time Belmont Day was open for school on Veterans Day, back in 2018, we were fortunate enough to be joined (via Zoom of all things!) by my college roommate who served in Naval Intelligence for over a decade after our years together in school. It was on the heels of that conversation along with conversations with other community members who were connected to veterans or veterans themselves that resulted in our decision to honor the veterans past and present in our community and beyond by taking Veterans Day as a day away from school to honor them for their service.
Education and freedom are intimately linked, and as we now take this holiday as a day of rest, I encourage us all to reflect on the service of our nation’s veterans and honor them in a way that best suits you and your family. Whether that’s taking a moment to engage and thank a veteran, attending a local ceremony, or simply reflecting on and discussing the meanings of service and our nation’s freedoms, I hope each of us will acknowledge and honor the importance of this day.
Thank you to all of the veterans who have been a part of the BDS family across nearly 95 years. Your commitment to our freedom and your service to our nation is an inspiration.
– Brendan Largay, head of school
EIB BOOK CLUB
Next Meeting Set for December 1
Join us each month for an informal, parent-led equity, inclusion, and belonging book group focusing on books written from the perspectives of marginalized communities. All parents/caregivers and faculty are welcome, and we choose our books democratically.
We’re reading Until We Are Free: My Fight for Human Rights in Iran by Shirin Ebadi for our next meeting on Thursday, December 1st at 7:00 p.m. Book club meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month via Zoom. The link is available on the Parent Portal.
Please contact Danielle England or Christina Cosman if you have any questions.
EIB NEWS
Cross-Community Gathering for Parents/Guardians of Color
The Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging is pleased to partner with our counterparts at Atrium School, Chestnut Hill School, and Shady Hill School to provide a space for parents/guardians who self-identify as people of color to come together and build community.
Our evenings will include some food, some good conversation, and an opportunity to meet other parents/guardians of color from our peer schools. The first gathering will be held on Wednesday, December 14. If you are interested in attending, please click here to RSVP. More details including location and time will be emailed.
Please reach out to Connie Yepez, Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at cyepez@belmontday.org with any questions.
ALUMNI NEWS
Charles Pinck ’76 Helps Honor Fallen OSS Personnel
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society held a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on October 22, 2022, to dedicate a memorial to Office of Strategic Services (OSS) personnel killed and missing in action in World War II. The OSS Society honors the historic accomplishments of the OSS during World War II, the first organized effort by the United States to implement a centralized system of strategic intelligence, and the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Special Operations Command, and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. It educates the American public regarding the continuing importance of strategic intelligence and special operations to the preservation of freedom. From left to right in the photo are Dr. Mike Vickers, Deputy Director of the CIA David Cohen, Adm. Eric Olson, OSS Society President Charles Pinck (BDS ‘76), Maj. Gen. Ben Maitre, USAF, A/S INR Brett Holmgren, former CIA Director George Tenet, and Heather Hopkins.
COMMUNITY NEWS
“No Idling” Magnet Challenge
We’re officially kicking off a month-long challenge for students of all grades to create a design for our next “NO IDLING” magnets. A group will review the entries and select one design that will be used for the new magnet to be distributed to the entire BDS community. Click here to download and print the template for students to use for their designs. Classroom teachers will have the template available, or they can be picked up during Early Birds in the Barn. For this challenge, students’ designs should only be made in black. I have black felt tip markers available in the art studio if needed.
Submissions can be given to a student’s classroom teacher or me. Have fun!
– Kathy Jo Solomon, visual arts teacher and sustainability coordinator
Learning Updates
Fifth Graders Create Websites On Learning Differences
In fifth grade science, students have been studying the brain, the nervous system, and neurodiversity. As a final project for this unit, each student is choosing a learning difference to research. Students are using Google Sites to create a website about their chosen learning difference that a parent of a student with this learning difference could visit to learn more about their student’s learning profile. Some chosen research topics include dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, dyscalculia, ADHD, and sensory processing issues. While the websites are still a work in progress, we definitely have some budding graphic designers in our midst! Students are using images, color, video, links to external sources, and many other techniques to make their websites engaging and informative.
– Emma Nairn, fifth grade teacher
Arts Update: First Graders Start Hammering, Sawing
First graders enter the woodworking studio in the fall starting their journey as designers and creators. The students learn to use basic tools and develop their fine motor skills. Cutting a piece of wood with a hand saw is their first accomplishment proceeded by learning to hammer. This week the students were hard at work using hammers to create their ‘happy blocks.’ As the year continues they will further develop new skills and create many treasures.
– Bill Smith, woodworking teacher
Second Graders Tell Their Stories of the Water Cycle
Our second grade scientists have been hard at work taking the perspective of a unique character: a water droplet! Students are working in partners to create a story told from the point of view of a water droplet that is going through the phases of the water cycle. Their story, which can be written as a classic story or in graphic novel form, must include key vocabulary words such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and accumulation. Some examples include a cello-playing droplet that lives on the back of a turtle and a droplet duo that evaporates out of an Egyptian tomb! This unit was designed by our wonderful associate teacher, Ms. Sophie Williamson, with the help of our out-of-this-world science mascot named Bob the Alien. Students will present their final stories to Bob so he can learn all about the water cycle on earth!
– The Second Grade Team
PE Update: Outdoor Adventuring
Our outdoor adventures middle school athletics team spends all fall in the woods learning how to read maps, vault over logs, build endurance, and bond in nature. This week some of our lower grades got to experience some OA excitement with a sampling of activities.
First graders played tree tag and worked on a scavenger hunt, proving sure-footed and observant on uneven terrain. Meanwhile, our third and fifth graders tried their hand at building cairns—rock formations above the treeline that allow hikers to follow the trail. Our third grade group also practiced hand signals that would make communication in the woods more efficient and much quieter, all the better to experience the bounty of sensory information available when we explore in the outdoors. It was adventurous indeed.
– Alex Tzelnic, physical education teacher and mindfulness director
Athletics Update: Strong Finish for Blue & Gold Athletics
Today marks the final day of interscholastic competition for the fall season. With the exception of varsity football, which squares off against Rashi this afternoon at home, teams have already wrapped up competitive play and are easing into a little downtime before the winter season begins. All may seem quiet now, but up and down the schedule Belmont Day’s teams finished their seasons with a bang. The fun began last Friday night when the girls’ varsity soccer team blanked Meadowbrook (2-0) under the lights at Harvard. The next day, cross country entered 17 athletes into a field of over 1,000 runners at the State Championships and walked away with a pair of top-ten finishes. Next, the JV football team (W 31-18) and JV soccer team (W 3-0) opened the week with dominating performances over Park. Then yesterday, the field hockey team and the boys’ varsity soccer team each walked away with 2-0 wins over LCA. This brings us to today where the varsity football team has an opportunity to put the finishing touches on a truly memorable fall season in front of a huge crowd on Claflin Field. Congratulations to all of our middle school athletes on a terrific fall season. BELIEVE.
– John O’Neill, director of athletics
Athletics News
- Annika Vittal and Quincy Treisman found the back of the net during girls’ varsity soccer’s emotional 2-0 win last Friday night against Meadowbrook.
- Petros Samuel provided the lone goal in boys’ varsity soccer’s 1-1 tie under the lights at Harvard last week. BDS had chances for the go-ahead, but couldn’t break through.
- Elise Goodman, Natalie Jean, and Emme Taylor finished their BDS soccer careers on a high note with strong defense in the team’s 3-0 win over Park.
- The JV football team evened their record at 3-3 this week behind the strong running of Jun Murakami and Aidan Tan, as well as the sound decision-making of Calum Dunbar.
- Nina Cohen-Perlmutter scored early and BDS never looked back during field hockey’s 2-0 win over LCA. Ilana Brauner tallied the team’s second goal.
- Sam Leviton (2nd) and Kaden Flummerfelt (5th) paced Belmont Day at the State Championships last weekend. Every repeat runner improved their times from a year ago.
Parents’ Association News
Thank you to everyone who volunteered last Friday and helped make Spirit Day and Friday Night Lights a huge success. We had so much fun and we could not have done it without your smiling faces and helping hands!
Book Fair
The Book Fair is here! Starting today, you can support the PA and shop virtually at Belmont Books–just use code BELMONTDAY22 in the “coupon code” field at checkout (not to be confused with “online gift code”). We have created a BDS Book Fair 2022 website, where you will find a Faculty Wishlist and an Erskine Library Wishlist, as well as book recommendations from librarian Amy Sprung for students throughout the school. [Please place school donation orders separately and write “for Belmont Day School Pickup by Amy Sprung” in the order comments section.] Of course, you can also shop directly on the Belmont Books website.
We hope you will also join us in-person at Belmont Books on the last day, Friday, November 18 between 1:00 and 6:00 p.m., for a fun afternoon of browsing books and mingling. During this time, a portion of all purchases made throughout the store will go to support the PA. Please help us spread the word in our community and beyond!
Questions about the Book Fair? Please reach out to Karla Bays.
PA Meeting
Please consider attending our next parents’ association meeting next Friday, November 18 at 8:30 a.m. in Coolidge Hall. The PA will not meet in December so now is your chance to ask questions and catch up on PA initiatives through the end of the calendar year. Coffee and refreshments will be served.
Parent Book Club
The Parent Book Club will meet on Thursday, December 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Menotomy Grill & Tavern in Arlington to discuss Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro. We love to welcome new faces and hope to see you there! Is your December almost too busy to contemplate? You can get a head-start on our January book, which will be Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Please reach out to Karla Bays for more information, or to join our mailing list.
Lost and Found
The lost and found items will be donated soon, so please check for your children’s belongings. The lost and found is available both in person and online. It is located in the entranceway to Coolidge Hall or online through the Parent Portal. Contact Caroline Gray for questions or to help out.
Mabel’s Labels
Help out lost and found! Labeled clothes get returned to cubbies. Mabel’s Labels provides customized clothing stampers and labels that you can put onto clothing, water bottles, lunch bags, ski gear, gloves, hats, etc. For each order you place, the PA earns 20% of the sale total. Click here to visit Mabel’s Labels’ website, go to “Support a Fundraiser” and enter “Belmont Day School” before ordering. If you have any questions, contact Lia Meisinger.
If you have any suggestions or questions about parents’ association-related activities, please reach out to us anytime at bdspa@belmontday.org.
Beyond BDS
ARTS EVENT
Gallery Show: The Making of Art and Artists
Belmont Gallery of Art, third floor of the Homer Building, 19 Moore Street, Belmont Center
Now through November 20, the Belmont Gallery of Art invites you to visit and see, “The Making of Art and Artist – A Journey of Self-Discovery Through Art and Friendship.” This group show highlights the work of Museum of Fine Arts instructor and artist Paula Pitman Brown and her students. For the run of the show, the gallery is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Fridays from 10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Opening reception this Sunday, November 13, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Visit belmontgallery.org for more information on the gallery and current show.
Return to the Parent Portal
