THE FWSU Story: BFA Fairfax, “A great place to learn and grow”

Dear Families and the FWSU Community:

Almost unbelievably, we are approaching October. I am happy to share that students throughout BFA Fairfax are deeply engaged in learning and their classroom communities. Throughout grades 5-8, walking through classrooms, visiting with students in the hallways and in the lunch room have offered countless reminders as to why BFA Fairfax is a great place to learn and grow.

Over our first few weeks, students have learned about Growth Mindset, delved into historical research using primary and secondary sources, thoughtfully discussed ancient mythology, set learning expectations, designed their portfolios, analyzed plant species, sung and played their hearts-out, visited the Farm to School Program, along with simply connecting and reconnecting with their peers and the BFA staff & faculty. It has also been great to see so many students involved in co-curriculars from athletics to the arts after school and on weekends, both as participants and as supporters.

At BFA Fairfax, we pride ourselves on rigorous and engaging learning both within class and in the broader community. In the near future, 5th Graders are preparing for a trip to the Stowe Performing Arts Center; 6th Grade is on their way to Science on the Green excursion in Montpelier; 7th Grade is preparing for a team-building trip to Craftsbury; and in 8th Grade, preparations have begun for the annual trip to Boston. Beyond these, there are many other opportunities to come. For any of our learning opportunities, in the event that you would like to volunteer, I encourage you to complete the FWSU Volunteer Agreement form. This can be found at FWSU.org under the Human Resources tab. Please consider completing this form immediately, as you only have to do this once per year. Volunteer Agreement Forms MUST be completed at least 48 hours in advance of any event.

In other exciting news, BFA Fairfax (and FWSU) has successfully moved to round II of a grant to receive two electric school buses. This grant opportunity will allow BFA Fairfax to collect important data on the feasibility of non-polluting electric buses for our community and the state of Vermont. This opportunity comes at NO ADDITIONAL COST to us over the price of our conventional diesel buses. The cost of the charging station and the installation is no additional cost to us! If (when) we win the grant, driver and mechanical/maintenance training are also included- at no cost to us. If this is an opportunity you support, please write to Patsy Parker (pparker@fwsu.org) so that we can include letters of support in order to strengthen our application.

Thank you for the opportunity of allowing us to work with your young people. We appreciate all of the support you, as families and as a community, offer to us in our work every day.

Educationally yours,

Justin Brown