March 8, 2024
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It was Math March Madness in third grade this week!
Opening Message
The Quiet Power of Narrative Nonfiction
Liz Gray, Middle School Head
Post Date: March 8, 2024
Last week, I attended the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) conference in St. Louis (my hometown!), where the theme was “thrive.” Speakers, presenters, and attendees like me found renewed joy and inspiration in the work we do in independent schools. The most profound lessons from this great conference came from a talk by a personal hero of mine, Isabel Wilkerson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste.
Wilkerson shared her reverence for “the quiet power of narrative nonfiction.” As a journalist, Wilkerson approaches her research and writing through narrative inquiry—years of intimate conversations with people who lived through times and hold experiences that only they could share accurately. She reflected on the years she dedicated to writing The Warmth of Other Suns and her goal to present a book about the Jim Crow-era American South that was deeper than the commonly known facts presented to students in school.
“I was looking for examples of storytelling that went beyond just the story of segregated water fountains,” Wilkerson told us. “My interviews and research took 15 years because my goal was to recreate the world of the past [so that readers today could ask], ‘What might we have done in that world?’” She creates works of candor that allow people to speak and think for themselves and invites readers to engage in history that comes “with receipts”—the hundreds of endnotes in her books that lead back to the first-hand stories she collected and the truths about an experience one person shared with another. She hopes that through the stories she presents and those endnotes, readers will form their own decisions about how and why the past played out as it did.
Wilkerson also spoke about radical empathy. When we study the past, she noted, we often assume we might do something differently than people did then. She urged us to engage in radical empathy—not to imagine what we would do in a situation but to research to truly understand another person’s experience. We truly do not know what it’s like to be in any circumstance we have not faced. The act of extending ourselves and inviting another person into a dialog about their experience is critical.
At Belmont Day, classes and lessons are filled with primary sources—written narrative accounts, first-hand oral histories, artifacts, artworks, sound recordings, political cartoons, and documentary films—that help students understand history and the social sciences. Isabel Wilkerson concluded her talk by expressing the firm belief that telling and studying history should be less about examining what makes us different and more about what makes us the same. Hope, joy, and inspiration are all found in the precious commonalities of the human experience that we all share.
Upcoming Events
Coming Up This Week
Monthly Calendar
RSVP for Ramadan Dinner
Tuesday, April 2 from 6 to 8 pm
Coolidge Hall
Please join us for a Ramadan Iftar (a traditional meal to break the daylong Muslim fast) hosted by Muslim families and sponsored by the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. This event is open to everyone in the BDS community.
As Ramadan is based on the lunar year calendar, the start of the month changes each year. This year, it will be observed from March 11 to April 9.
Muslims break their fast at sunset, which on April 2 will be at 7:15 p.m. Please RSVP for this event so that we can order the appropriate amount of food. We hope you will join us.
Concessions at Play Performances
During the intermissions of both Bringing Down The House performances, snacks and drinks will be sold outside of Coolidge Hall. All concession sales will be cash only, so please bring along a few dollars and grab a treat or two. All proceeds will benefit the theater arts program at BDS. Thank you for your support.
This is a reminder that both shows are sold out, and we cannot accommodate walk-ins. A recording will be made available to the community.
Auxiliary Programs: Trimester Three Starts Monday
Our third and final trimester of the school year for After School and enrichment classes begins on Monday, March 11. Please reach out to Blair Fross or Denali Kikuchi with any questions.
Parent Conference Days and Childcare
Spring parent conferences will take place:
- Friday, March 22, 1 to 4:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, March 27, 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
- Friday, March 29, 1 to 4:30 p.m.
The school will be closed on Wednesday, March 27, except for parent conferences, and open for the normal school schedule on the two Fridays, March 22 and March 29.
- For the middle school, spring parent conferences will include only the parent(s), student, and advisor.
- Faculty sent conference sign-up times to all families earlier today. Please check your inboxes!
Childcare Information
- Childcare will be available during conference hours on all three days in the Erskine Library
- Sign-up is not required.
- Coverage is only available during conferences–please do not drop off or pick up earlier or later than the end of your conference.
- All children of school age are welcome (even if they are not BDS students.)
- Children should bring a book or activity; some activities will be provided.
- Children should not bring electronics, including iPads and phones.
- No food will be provided.
Stop by Lost and Found
Please visit the lost and found to check for your children’s missing items. The racks are again overflowing with jackets, sweatshirts, gloves, mittens, hats, boots, and sneakers.
The lost and found is in the Schoolhouse just past Liz Parfit’s office near the sixth grade hallway. All unclaimed items will be donated to a local charity before the April vacation week.
Lunch & Snack Menu
March 11 to March 15
Monday
Snack: craisins; Smartfood
Lunch: spaghetti with meat sauce; spaghetti with vegan meatballs and marinara; gluten-free pasta with meat sauce; garlic breadsticks; steamed broccoli; mixed greens with balsamic
Tuesday
Snack: bananas; banana chocolate chip oatmeal rounds
Lunch: Greek chicken; roasted Greek tofu; rice pilaf; rice; Mediterranean veggie blend (zucchini, summer squash, peppers, eggplant, red onion); Greek salad with cucumber, tomato, olives, red onion, feta and romaine
Wednesday
Snack: clementine; Sun Chips
Lunch: crispy coconut fish; kelp meatballs; citrus roasted fish; thin fries; roasted corn; garden salad with tomatoes and honey mustard
Thursday
Snack: apple slices; Fritos
Lunch: ham and cheese on croissant; vegan grilled cheese; gluten-free grilled ham and cheese sandwiches; minestrone; honey carrot coins; Caesar salad
Friday
Snack: apples; graham crackers
Faculty Lunch
Please click the button below for a more detailed and updated weekly menu.
BDS News
COMMUNITY NEWS
Mark Your Calendars for Capstone Week 2024
The research, writing, and project phases are now complete and our eighth graders are starting to draft their Capstone presentations. It’s still a month away, but we hope you will plan ahead to join us for Capstone Week, April 8-12. Capstone presentations are open to our entire community, and we encourage everyone to join us in the Palandjian Arts Center.
Check the dropdown below for the full schedule to plan your visit(s).
– Jennifer Friborg, Capstone coordinator
Capstone Topics & Schedule
2024 Capstone Presentation Schedule
- Presentations will be 15-20 minutes each, with some variation.
- All visitors are encouraged to stay for the whole session of three or four presenters.
- Eighth grade students will attend all presentations.
- Official presentation titles will be coming soon.
Monday, April 8, 9:00 to 10:15 a.m.
- police dogs, Olivia Garrity (Mentor: Emily Crawford)
- economics, Sam Leviton (Mentor: Jim Walker)
- keystone species, Rhys Kaplan (Mentor: Sana Aslam)
Monday, April 8, 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
- dopamine, Charis Liu (Mentor: Amy Sprung)
- architecture in Ethiopia, Kalkidan Shiferaw (Mentor: Anderson Santos)
- musical theater, Jovana Zivanovic (Mentor: Susan Dempsey)
Monday, April 8, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.
- Olympics, Owen Bantham-Livermore (Mentor: Jessica Halton)
- viruses, Theo Kelman (Mentor: Sandra Trentowsky)
- color psychology, Grace Sullivan (Mentor: Anne Armstrong)
Tuesday, April 9, 9:00 to 10:15 a.m.
- quantum computing, Carter Bradshaw (Mentor: Judy Bright)
- dementia, Clive Sutton (Mentor: Josh Sussman)
- fairy tales, Sal Pattisall (Mentor: Becca MacKillop)
Tuesday, April 9, 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
- deregulation, Quinn Clark (Mentor: Kyle Beatty)
- activism in sports, Foster Larabee (Mentor: Sam Staples)
- sexism in the music industry, Eleanor Stine (Mentor: Lana Holman)
Tuesday, April 9, 3:00 to 4:15 p.m.
- cybernetics and bionic limbs, Ariel Duan (Mentor: Bill Smith)
- youth sports, Annika Vittal (Mentor: Jade Morris)
- forensics, Brynn Franklin (Mentor: Brittany Ryan)
Wednesday, April 10, 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
- mirroring, Julia Street (Mentor: Elena Jay)
- salmon, Louis Cantor (Mentor: Bea Rooney)
- computers, Jaden Park (Mentor: Denali Kikuchi)
- dyslexia, Olivia Dawson (Mentor: Betty Pryor)
Wednesday, April 10, 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
- performance-enhancing habits for athletes, Andrew Green (Mentor: Liz Gray)
- nuclear power, Lucy Yin (Mentor: Heather Smith)
- Art + Olympics, Yaseen Saeed (Mentor: Bill Hamilton)
Wednesday, April 10, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
- flow, William Li (Mentor: Alex Tzelnic)
- fashion and power, Clem Cradick (Mentor: Kathy Jo Solomon)
- sports agents, Charlie Rossi (Mentor: Patrick Murray)
- coffee, Zach Cash (Mentor: Zach d’Arbeloff)
Thursday, April 11, 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
- meteorology, Simon Wright (Mentor: Charlie Baird)
- carbon, Tadhg O’Sullivan (Mentor: Rachel Starks Chaves)
- athletic training, Cassie Greiner (Mentor: Brendan Largay)
- sustainable architecture, Luke Brenneman (Mentor: Larissa Rochford)
Thursday, April 11, 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
- best sellers, Alexander Meredith (Mentor: Ana Maria Restrepo)
- Asian discrimination, Madoka Hubbard (Mentor: Angela DeVecchi)
- Taylor Swift, Veronica Wang (Mentor: Nathalie Pellenq)
Thursday, April 11, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
- the brain, Roudi Youssef (Mentor: Maggie Small)
- steroids in sports, Kaden Flummerfelt (Mentor: John O’Neill)
- independence movements, August Wilmot (Mentor: Khang Phan)
- synesthesia, Sophie Jean (Mentor: Connie Yepez)
Friday, April 12, 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
- submarines, Rami Flummerfelt (Mentor: Kassie Bettinelli)
- AI, Anna Bibler (Mentor: Leigh Twarog)
- dance, Eva Peregudov (Mentor: Tyler Cotner)
- de-extinction, Gideon Borisy (Mentor: Nicole Buck)
HEALTH NEWS
BDS COVID-19 Isolation Guidelines Remain in Place
Many of you may have seen the news last week that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced new safety recommendations regarding COVID-19. The updated CDC guidelines are more lenient and no longer require a five-day isolation period. At this time, Massachusetts has not changed its guidelines regarding the recommended period of isolation. To ensure our community’s health and safety, Belmont Day will continue to follow the same protocol of five days of isolation that was put in place at the beginning of this school year. Please keep in mind that the BDS guidelines are more stringent than what either the state or CDC currently recommends. We encourage all parents to review the protocols detailed on the Parent Portal, and if you have any questions, please reach out to nurse@belmontday.org.
– Lauren Connors, school nurse
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Help Families Say YES to BDS!
Our admissions team seeks 13 to 15 parent volunteers to help with our annual “Say YES to BDS!” revisit day for our accepted families. The visit day is key in helping families make their decision to join our community for the 2024-25 school year and beyond!
The event will be held on Sunday, March 24, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Volunteers will help with family registration, staff food/beverage tables, and greet, and direct families.
If you are interested in volunteering, please complete this brief survey by Monday, March 11.
Admissions will connect with you to share more information. Thank you!
Spring Fest 2024
Our biennial Spring Fest: A Celebration of Our Cultures and Traditions, will take place on Saturday, May 4. We are seeking volunteers for the following roles:
- Lead volunteers – Partner with the development and DEIB teams to help lead the overall Spring Fest volunteer effort.
- Culture ambassadors – Take the lead on organizing your culture’s display for Spring Fest. Recruit and organize additional culture representatives to partner with you.
- Culture representatives – Join a team of volunteers to plan how you’d like to represent your shared culture at Spring Fest. Parents, students, extended family, and faculty are all invited to participate.
- Event set-up or break-down on May 4.
We can’t wait to celebrate the rich and diverse backgrounds we share at Belmont Day through music, dance, food, storytelling, games, and more. Complete this survey if you’d like to help.
Questions? Please email development@belmontday.org.
COMMUNITY NEWS
Introducing the Family Partnership Guide
The Family Partnership Guide, formerly known as the Family Handbook, has been published on the Parent Portal (in the Quick Links column on the homepage). We hope that you will find this resource useful as it covers the following important topics:
- Academic Programs, Auxiliary Programs, and Curriculum: homework, student support services, progress reports and conferences, social competency programs, and more
- Comings and Goings: school hours, arrival and dismissal, absences, and more
- Community Health and Safety: Anti-bullying policy, behavior expectations, student health and safety, reporting concerns, medical accommodations, and more
- Events and Traditions
- Home-School Partnership: information channels, parents’ association information, and volunteer opportunities
- Non-academic Matters: clothing, food program, gifts, and parties
- School Safety: incident management plan and incident communications
- Administration and Governance
- Non-teaching Faculty
- Financial Matters: tuition, enrollment contracts, and financial assistance
- Life After Belmont Day: high school placement, alumni programs, and more
If you have questions about any of the topics in the guide, please reach out to your child’s division head.
– Koreen McQuilton, director of communications and marketing
Learning Updates
Pre-k Interviews Game Designer
Pre-kindergarten is deep into a study of games this month. First, the students explored four kinds of games: board games, card games, building games, and matching games. Then, they each chose their favorite category and began designing their own game within that category. Last Friday, we were able to interview Tyler Schwartz, the creative director at Story Time Learning. We have been learning how to play chess using the award-winning Story Time Chess, and it was so special for us to meet the professional designer behind that game! Children had lots of questions for Tyler about how he creates games, and they thoroughly enjoyed his stories and advice. We are so excited to share our finished games with the BDS community at an upcoming sharing assembly. Stay tuned!
– Kim Edwards and Nicole Siverls, pre-kindergarten teachers
Second Grade Experiments with Water Filtration Process
Over the past few weeks in science with associate teacher Mr. Hacker, second graders have been exploring and researching the difference between dirty and clean water and the systems and processes that distinguish the two. In conjunction with this exploration, second graders worked in pairs to design water filters using recycled plastic bottles, coffee filters, rocks, and sand. This past week, our scientists built and tested their water filters with a cup of dirty water. We observed how the water’s color changed as it went through the filter, how fast the water filtered, and how much clean water their filter collected.
We got the chance to reflect on our work this week, and students shared observations, surprises, and questions they still had after testing their water filters. In addition, students gave ideas for modifying the experiment, like adding microscopes or working with a local water treatment scientist to test if their filtered water was safe to drink.
Students used their creativity, hard work, and collaboration skills to create, test, and reflect on a wide range of water filters.
– The Second Grade Team
Athletics Update: Boys’ Lacrosse Rebuilds Roster
With only six returning players from last year’s team, the boys’ lacrosse program has reloaded, welcoming nine new players to this year’s squad. Since the majority of these rookies are also new to the sport, the team will have lots of work to do early in the season to bring players up to speed and will be counting on returning players to step into leadership roles. William Li returns for his third and final year in net. Zeke Fine and Yaseen Saeed return to lead the defense. Mylo Rosenfeld and Vicente Aguerrevere, return on attack, and Andrew Green returns for his final campaign in a Blue & Gold uniform. With the team’s experience balanced across positions, Belmont Day has a path to success this spring, but it will take lots of hard work to get there.
– John O’Neill, director of athletics
Sixth Graders Study Concept of Race and Racism
This week in social studies, sixth graders worked through the second part of a lesson on the concept of race. The goal of the lesson is for students to analyze the socially constructed meaning of race and examine how it has been used to justify exclusion, inequality, and violence throughout history. In the first part of this lesson, students discussed Kwame Anthony Appiah’s take on the evolutionary origins of “We and They” thinking and a short video titled “Race: The Power of an Illusion (The Difference Between Us)” from Facing History and Ourselves. We followed this by reflecting on George Fredrickson’s definition of race to define it more clearly for our understanding. In the final phase of the lesson, students will analyze a primary source titled Growing Up With Racism by Lisa Delpit. A goal here is to examine how racism has influenced the ways that people think and act toward Delpit and how racism has affected how she thinks about herself. By the end of the lesson, students should be able to take away the fact that the concept of race was invented by society to fulfill its need to justify disparities in power and status among different groups. The lack of scientific evidence about race undermines the very concept of the superiority of some “races” and the inferiority of other “races.”
– Khang Phan, sixth grade social studies teacher
Kindergarten Learns about Sanitation Workers
If you talk to a kindergartener, be prepared for some trash talk … discussions about garbage collectors, that is. Kindergartners began a study of another essential community helper—garbage collectors, also known as sanitation workers. This week, we learned that garbage trucks can be in all different colors–even rainbows. After looking at photos of garbage trucks, kindergartners and their seventh grade cross-graded buddies designed their own garbage trucks. They used their knowledge of 2D shapes to create a truck that could safely carry trash to a landfill. Then, they used markers to decorate their truck. So, don’t “waste” the opportunity to ask a kindergartener about their very own garbage truck.
– Missy Hartvigsen, kindergarten teacher
Parents’ Association News
Upcoming PA Events!
The PA has some exciting events coming up this spring. We hope you will mark your calendars and join us.
- Jonathan Todd Book Birthday and Author Talk – Friday, April 5, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. (click here to RSVP)
- Cradles to Crayons Sort – Sunday, April 28, 2 to 4:00 p.m.
- Parent Spring Celebration and Corporation Meeting – Thursday, May 16, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Coolidge Centerpieces
Help us beautify Coolidge Hall and add to the children’s lunch experience. If you would like to contribute to this longstanding community effort, please purchase twelve small plants (no taller than 11″ from the table to the top of the plant) with a grow pot under a 4.5″ diameter and deliver them to the kitchen on the appointed day. Click here for more information and sign up.
Parent Book Group
Our next book club meeting will be Tuesday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Menotomy Grill & Tavern in Arlington. We will discuss Kiley Reid’s novel Come and Get It. We hope you will join us.
Join the PA for 2024-25
The PA executive team encourages parents to start thinking about whether they would like to get more involved in the parents’ association next year, either in a leadership capacity as a member of the executive team or as a committee chair or member. We also welcome hearing from parents who want to get involved to a lesser degree or want to explore the options. Please reach out to us at bdspa@belmontday.org anytime to ask questions or express interest, or contact any of the executive team members directly:
- President – Karla Bays karla.bays@gmail.com
- Vice President – Courtney Queen cqueen.rosenfeld@gmail.com
- Treasurer – Andy Stevenson als@sfilp.com
- Clerk – Gigi Saltonstall gigisalt@gmail.com
Beyond BDS
MUSIC EDUCATION
Powers to Host String Day
STORYTELLING EVENT
Story Collider Returns for an Evening at MIT Museum
Saturday, March 9, from 7 to 9 p.m.
“Whether you wear a lab coat or haven’t seen a test tube since grade school, science is shaping all our lives.”
From heartbreaking to hilarious, The Story Collider is a live storytelling event featuring stories from people from all walks of life about how science has affected their lives. Join MIT for an evening of true, personal stories about tenacity as they welcome The Story Collider back to the museum.
For more information and tickets, visit the MIT Museum’s website.
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