The middle school years are arguably the most important years in a child’s education. The combination of changing bodies, developing minds, and complex social dynamics create a vortex of possibilities where children – if not led, supported, challenged, and inspired – can quickly become invisible, their growth held back due to missed opportunities or misplaced intention. […]
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In 2007, former Middle School Head, Scott Alexander, completed the final steps to make the BCD Middle School an approved International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB MYP) World School. At the time, IB MYP schools were relatively uncommon, especially in the Boulder area. While the roots of IB can be traced to Europe, today there […]
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In BCD’s Athletics program, students develop athletic skills, build self-esteem, and learn team leadership skills. They also explore the meaning of discipline, commitment, resilience, and hard work. The supportive team environment encourages students to be themselves and to take risks, powerful lessons that easily translate off the court or field. “Athletics, in general, has shaped […]
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Most importantly, remember and acknowledge that your kids are experiencing their middle school years in the midst of a pandemic. They have not had a normal school year since 2018-2019. For our 7th and 8th graders, that was in 4th and 5th grade, respectively. For some, the anxiety of just being around other people has become a normal way of life. There may still be some trepidation in getting together with friends and socializing like we did in 2019, and that is okay. We are extremely lucky to have been in person last school year, and we have had a successful opening to our current school year. Some students may still be adjusting to a more normal school year. It is helpful to create opportunities for conversations about day-to-day experiences to help them through this time in their lives. It is also important to know when to push the pause button and give ourselves and our kids the time they need when life becomes too overwhelming. We often hear that kids are resilient. As adults during this pandemic, our resiliency may seem to have waned from time to time. If this is true for adults, how can we expect our kids to be resilient? Resiliency is something that is taught. It is more than opening a math book and memorizing the times tables. It is being aware of the needs of your child. It is talking with your child about his/her needs and how to overcome them. With time, they begin to recognize and use those strategies on their own. There is no set curriculum to teach kids how to be resilient but continue to be patient and do what is best for your child. With time, our kids will not only learn to be resilient, they will thrive.
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Our collective goal is to enrich student wellbeing, which, in turn, will lead to better educational outcomes.
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Activities such as Model UN encourage students to think about important issues outside their own country and to be active participants in a diverse, interconnected, and modern generation.
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“I wish I had been here from the beginning”, said my older son half-way through 7th grade at BCD a couple of years ago. When I asked him why, he gave me several reasons: The teachers, the students, the community, the opportunities to explore new interest areas, the leadership opportunities, the service projects, the trips, and […]
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Students learn about international relations, develop empathy, and gain a better understanding of how issues across the world affect us all.
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Social media has the positive attribute of connecting people, but the way that many young people use social media can be harmful.
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Investing in children during their formative, younger years pays dividends down the road.
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