Messages from Jeff & the Board of Trustees

Dear Parents, 

Recently our Burgundy Class of 1970 celebrated their 50th anniversary of their Burgundy graduation with—what else?!—a Zoom call. It was heartening to see the post! It reminds me that in challenging times we hearken back to the people, experiences, and institutions that mean the most to us, that have had the greatest impact. I look forward to inviting the Class of 1970 back to campus next fall on Fall Fair weekend! We will celebrate our mutual connections and all that we share and all for which we are grateful! (Yes, I am optimistic.)

It is in this vein of looking ahead and cautious optimism that I write to you now. Although the governors of Virginia and Maryland and the Mayor of DC are just beginning to plot out from a governmental perspective what a relaxing of social distancing and return to normal may look like, I want to offer the best glimpse forward that we can and to comment specifically on questions I know are on everyone’s minds, even as there are so many unknowns.

Before I do that let me first say a few things.

One, we hope that your extended family is healthy. We know that some of us are experiencing illness, fear, and even loss of family and friends during this pandemic, and we send our best and caring thoughts. At an appropriate time we will find a way to honor these losses collectively. But please feel free to reach out with any news or requests for support.

Two, we hope that your household and your children’s remote learning have settled into something more of a rhythm. While we find ourselves temporarily unable to enjoy one of Burgundy’s greatest assets—the campus—we are experiencing another one in real-time in a caring community! Our small community, our curriculum, and especially our faculty have allowed us to respond nimbly and flexibly to this challenge.

Three, I want again to give a huge thanks to our teachers who are doing their best to personalize, differentiate, and diversify what they’re offering our students. The learning curve is steep for every school, of course, but we’re fortunate to have a team and a community that has responded with resilience, creativity, and hopefulness. Most important, in keeping with our developmental, progressive educational philosophy, we will continue to strive to meet our students where they are. Therefore, as educational psychologists like Rob Evans and Michael Thompson are recommending in their recent Zoom, we can focus on the holistic wellness of our children knowing that whatever skills or content they arrive with in September, we will meet them where they are. Meantime, we continue to work on all cylinders on the School side of things and recognize that things may be in a workable place for some students and families and remain much more challenging for others. We will continue to take stock of parent and student feedback down the stretch of this school year in order to be as supportive as we can. And at the end of this spring’s dash into remote learning, we will take some time to process what worked well and what will inform any necessary additional sustained periods of school from home, which we know burdens parents tremendously.

Four, we are here for you. We know that some families are being hit hard financially, and we want to help. We can help—with emergency financial aid and by other means—but we have to hear from you. Our business office is ready to work with any family who is experiencing a significant financial hardship. Please reach out to Kathy Miller. We should note that there is also an opportunity here to help: if you are in a position to help and would like to help support Burgundy’s ability to provide emergency financial aid, please reach out to Matt Sahlin.

Five, if we do have a difficult scenario in the fall, and we can not return to school 100% and in person, then we will provide as much notice as possible and we will be prepared. More, we feel confident we can be on campus. What school is better situated than Burgundy to effect social distancing? With five separate, freestanding buildings, dozens of indoor and outdoor teaching and learning spaces, wherein every single indoor classroom has its own door to the outdoors and 26 acres to work with (not to mention the BCWS), we have real estate and creative options at our disposal that no other school has! We predict that we will find ways to be at school, at worst, for the vast majority of the school year. Larger schools and schools that operate in a single building will be much more limited than we are in trying to develop (literally) ‘outside the box’ and workable educational ideas that are child- and family-friendly.

Questions on our Minds

This Spring: Could we return to school in-person? 

No, this looks impossible at this point. Per the Virginia governor’s order, all schools are closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year. Any return will require weeks of planning, addressing local health and government benchmarks, along with a regional mindset and readiness. At this moment that sort of planning is beginning for the fall while decisions regarding summer camps remain in process. (More below on Fall and Camps.)

Will we hold 8th grade graduation this spring? Will we do an online graduation?

Eighth graders and faculty have expressed a preference for a graduation in person, even if it is delayed. We are looking at contingency plans for honoring and celebrating our 8th graders in a timely way this spring as they complete 8th grade while also allowing for the possibility of a graduation in-person.

How will we close the current 2019-20 school year?

In the coming weeks we will plan creative and meaningful ways to end the school year remotely and on an uplifting note. We are considering plans, from some ceremonial ‘moving up’ rites of passage to adapted student reports and/or conferences, which could take place during the first week of June, rather than the many social activities and graduation. The practical close of the current year for students then may occur in late May and not the first week of June as originally planned. It may include some culminating (but not ‘high-stakes’) academic work, designed to provide satisfying experiential demonstrations of learning for students and closure to a profoundly challenging but ultimately valuable learning experience. We can celebrate that through these challenges, we have all developed valuable tools that will be helpful in the future, including in any return to remote learning.

How will we support transitions to the next grade and new school year?

We are considering how we can offer extra-supportive transitions in the fall, transitions that bridge the current and next school year and that can include more celebration and closure of this year blended with preparation for the next grade. Regardless of what structure we settle on for reopening school, time will be taken at the start of the next school year to carefully assess where students are—academically but also, even more important, socially and emotionally.

• Supporting our children in the transition socially and emotionally, given the shifting challenges they will have faced, as we seek to reacclimate and situate them so that they are most available for learning, potentially in a situation that likely resembles but is still not identical to what we’d grown accustomed to previously at Burgundy.  
• Easing next fall’s academic transitions by scaffolding and bridging some content and skills, knowing that in effect we have not completely finished the previous year. This is developmentally appropriate and how Burgundy and best schools always proceed! 
• ‘Looping,’ wherein we have a few days to visit in and have proper closure with our ‘last year’s’ teachers and spaces before we physically and emotionally and academically move up, with appropriate celebrations, to our next classrooms.

We will use every bit of data and innovation we can access to ensure the transition is pleasant, affirming, and socially and academically successful!

Will we really be on campus in the Fall? How can we know?

We plan to begin the 2020-21 school year on campus and to be in school on campus for most if not all of the year. Our dispersed and airy campuses may be major advantages in our efforts to continue social distancing measures as needed. We also must be prepared for different possible general scenarios: school on campus, school remotely, or some blend. By blend, we’re not referring to merely an interval of remote learning but the possibility that school could have some students and faculty on campus and some at home, for any number of reasons, beginning with the health status of some individuals and health and safety protocols we must implement with regard to the density and potential lingering needs for distancing of students.

What about this summer? Will our Burgundy Summer Day Camp and BCWS camps operate this summer? 

Children and families will be hungry and hoping for camps! Again, our sprawling and outdoor-oriented campuses are advantages. We continue to plan for our camps to operate their regular programs while also planning for contingency situations. We remain hopeful as we near necessary decision points in the next two weeks. Appropriate health and safety requirements must be in place in order to run full programs in-person. Refunds will be provided for programs that can’t run, and we hope to offer online and/or blended online and in-person content, as the situations allow. We are also considering alternative camp options tailored to a Burgundy school family audience.

How will we make health and safety related decisions relating to school and camps?

The Burgundy administration will continue to work closely with our Board of Trustees, following government requirements and best practices as advised by the CDC, WHO, and local medical authorities, local health data, and advice of peer school and regional school associations. We are forming task forces among employees and trustees and will study international and U.S. schools’ responses and those of schools who are ‘ahead of us’ in our region. At the Board level we are holding generative, strategic discussions, and trustees have already been engaged in advising school thinking and decision-making. We will have students, families and employees on campus only if we can deem it safe and appropriate to do so. On the other hand, even with jurisdictional ‘green lighting,’ and proper protocols and procedures applied as best we can, there will be some assumption of risk by all parties as we transition to a new normal.

Will there be refunds or credits associated with prolonged online learning intervals?

Our team has worked harder than ever to offer the best and most developmentally appropriate program we can during these remote learning weeks thus far. In keeping our employees working, there are no substantial savings to pass on, though we will be considering what opportunities the summer may offer us to support families, particularly of our youngest students. (See the Board’s letter for more on the economics of this moment.)  We respect that there are questions around how well we are doing in this emergency situation; for our part, we continue to seek feedback, provide additional offerings such as art blocks, P.E. and instrumental music, and to make adjustments in response to feedback (shortening or lengthening some classes, adding more frequent teacher check-ins, delivering materials home to students). 

Most schools, including ours, that have not already operated in remote learning regularly have had a steep learning curve; some schools that began with fully synchronous programs have dialed back significantly and moved to more of a balance of synchronous with asynchronous learning opportunities, while many schools, especially public schools, who serve a huge number of students, have struggled greatly to offer anything at all. Some of the value in once-in-a-lifetime situations like this is in our ability to maintain some sense of community and personal care, combined with old-fashioned ‘heart’ and Burgundy ingenuity, which parents and children are helping us learn quickly how best to do so. We also recognize that not all children, especially our youngest, respond as well to online learning opportunities, for a variety of reasons.

We are learning all we can, and in truth our faculty has never worked harder. We continue to pay all of our employees, and our expenses on the whole have not diminished while we manage the usual operational overhead to run the school now and in the near-future. We are doing our very best to fulfill our duty and deliver our program, if in a modified way, during a global pandemic. We currently are not offering refunds or credits beyond those already issued by auxiliary services. We will continue to assess different options to maintain the best Burgundy program and value regardless of our on-campus status and to make adjustments as needed.

Please read the Board’s letter below outlining some of the considerations and steps it is taking this spring to protect our community and ensure that our excellent Burgundy program continues.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we wish to first express our admiration and profound gratitude for the tireless efforts of our administrators, faculty and staff to respond to the unprecedented demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. Understandably, there are more questions than answers about what the future holds but we want to share what we do know and how the Board, with Jeff and his team, are approaching these most challenging questions. We also send this letter as many of us are fellow current Burgundy parents sharing these experiences along with you and your child(ren), feeling the additional pressures and challenges posed by distance learning. Board members Joanne Petty, Chad Breckinridge, Ama Adams, and Michael Hill are also parents of 8th graders whose children started together in the Kindergarten Polar Bears class. We, too, feel your sense of loss in what should’ve been this spring.

Burgundy’s quality program continues thanks to our creative team.

This displacement of our lives and our hopes and expectations for our children are reverberated worldwide as schools and teachers have adjusted to distance learning. Likewise, Burgundy teachers have devoted untold hours to technology training, learning to Zoom and adjusting their lesson plans to deliver the best possible age- and developmentally-appropriate education under these difficult conditions. Burgundy students are showing remarkable resilience and learning how to learn in a new way, adapting and experimenting in partnership with their teachers. Challenging times can inspire creative solutions and one of the silver linings in this strange new reality has been that despite the enormous challenges, Burgundy’s faculty and admin team have responded with remarkable agility and creativity. Burgundy teachers have executed a dynamic plan and have stretched to reach each student because we know not every student is accessing remote learning in the same way.

The program continues to balance core academics while retaining a sense of community and teamwork, prioritizing social and emotional well-being. This includes physicality and movement, arts, music, drama and also ‘the extras’—advisory meetings, community meetings and singing familiar songs together, virtually visiting the barn animals and the Cove campus, and celebrating important events like Earth Day. More, Middle school music students recently enjoyed speaking with and listening to songs from a professional musician who got his start as a student at Burgundy; instrumental music continues, art classes, photography, musical theater, guitar, drums, and dance Arts Block classes have been offered to 4th and 5th grade, and our P.E. teachers bring competitiveness into at-home exercises, asking students to showcase their most creative ways to express themselves with movement. Teachers are finding creative ways to deliver instruction from puppets, manipulatives, and costumes to TikTok and Zoom breakout rooms to name a few. Students are sharing their work with teachers and classmates through videos, photos, narrated slideshows, Google Classroom. Feedback is flowing back to students via audio and video recordings, office hours, and written comments through email and Google Classroom. In whatever ways they can share teaching and learning, our faculty and students are trying it. We have been impressed and immensely grateful for the commitment the faculty and administration have shown to bring meaningful instruction and community to our families.

Economic impact of COVID-19 on Burgundy

Stewardship of the school’s financial resources and financial health and sustainability is a critical trustee responsibility. We’ve managed to thrive these past 74 years, and with strong leadership and a supportive community, we remain confident that Burgundy is well-positioned to not only weather this current pandemic but continue to operate and deliver a program consistent with our progressive educational philosophy well into the future. 

The economic impact of the pandemic on Burgundy is real, and we are working with the administration to monitor the School’s financial health—now and for the future. We are forecasting revenue will be down for the foreseeable future, with continued increasing pressure on expenses. We anticipate 2020-21 enrollment will be somewhat below budgeted levels, and that there will be more need for emergency (unbudgeted) financial aid. We have also absorbed and anticipate refunds and revenue losses in our auxiliary programs (Extended Day, enrichments, facility rental fees and, especially, camps, if we can’t run all of our regular programming). There have also been additional expenses associated with upgrading technology and technical support for faculty, staff, and students to facilitate access to distance learning and assuring that all students have appropriate devices for continuing their studies. Last, we expect our voluntary giving (Burgundy Fund, for instance) to be lower due to the economic turmoil wrought by COVID-19. Despite these financial stresses, we remain committed to keeping our Burgundy program going and our Burgundy team employed, continuing and maintaining core business functions, and at the same time, evaluating other expenses and campus repairs that can be defrayed temporarily. We expect these budgetary pressures will persist for some time, but we remain confident that Burgundy will come through these challenging times due in part to its pre-COVID financial health, strong leadership, a creative, caring and tireless faculty and staff, a supportive community, and an excellent program. 

Jeff is in regular consultation with peer school heads of schools and with school associations, including AISGW (Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington, comprising 76 regional independent schools). What we are hearing is that nearly all independent schools are grappling with these unexpected budget impacts and also fielding questions about tuition credits or refunds amid the uncertainty of whether summer camp will run and if we will return to “normal” operations this Fall. All independent schools rely and plan for tuition to be collected over the entire school year and Burgundy is no different. Tuition payments are necessary for the school to maintain operations and continue paying our teachers and staff, all of whom are working even longer and harder than if we were on campus as usual. Our insurance policies (like most educational institution coverage) do not offer coverage for extra costs or reduced revenues resulting from pandemics, so these expenses continue to be covered by the operating budget.

The Board’s next steps

We are committed to ensuring Burgundy’s financial health remains strong through this crisis so that it can continue operations long into the future. Trustees continue to evaluate the school’s resources to address the economic impact of prolonged school closure. These include the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program government assistance loan (which in the short term guarantees our ability to pay our employees and to deal with cash-flow shortages arising from reduced revenue), our fledgling endowment fund (which we have been attempting to grow but was negatively impacted in the downturn, and has never been tapped for operational use), and cash reserves.

In this regard, we have been working closely with Jeff and his team through every step of this crisis and have planned for expanding our COVID-19 Task Force, and engaging in strategic discussions among trustees and advisors to gather information, develop contingency plans and consider different proposals. Our key areas of focus will be:

• the health and safety of our students and community including in a return to campus from remote status; 
• maintaining a quality educational program in all possible scenarios; 
• supporting families through the crisis and maintaining our commitment to our faculty, staff, and contract employees; 
• ensuring the financial sustainability of Burgundy.

Our immediate goal remains to provide strategic direction in each of these key areas so that Jeff and his team can welcome students back on campus in a safe way.

Thank you for your continued support! 

We are grateful that our ability to respond to the crisis has been in part enabled by the generosity of donors who continue to contribute to the Burgundy Fund and to financial aid. Fundraising has slowed, yes, but the role of philanthropy, particularly through support of the Burgundy Fund, and specifically, financial aid, has never been more important to sustaining the School, our faculty and staff, and our families.  If you are in a position to give, we ask that you consider doing so.

These are historic times. Burgundy’s ability not just to survive but to thrive depends on our shared willingness to support each other and the school through the ups and downs of this crisis. While every member of the community has had to make significant adjustments to their lives, it is comforting to know we are all in it together. Your continued support remains critical and we thank you for your continued partnership in supporting Burgundy, our teachers, staff, and all of our students.

With gratitude,

Joanne Petty
President, Board of Trustees

Seileen Mullen
Vice President, Board of Trustees

Allen O’Neil ‘92
Treasurer, Board of Trustees

Ama Adams
Secretary, Board of Trustees

Chad Breckinridge,
President Elect, Board of Trustees