Belmont Day School Viewbook 2023

Be courageous.

Be a learner.

Be a leader.

Belong.

Be yourself.

BEING BELMONT DAY

Character Matters

Our core values live beyond these walls and this campus. Whether at an away game, on a class trip, or at their next school, college, or beyond, our students and alumni bring kindness, respect, caring, and joy into the world.

And that, ultimately, is the intention of a Belmont Day School education.”

—Brendan Largay Head of School

Be kind.

Be caring.

Be CONFIDENT. Experience Belmont Day School.

Our uniquely supportive community inspires and challenges learners and leaders in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

• Students relish childhood

• A diverse community of

learning and playing on a campus nestled on 11 acres of beautiful woodlands.

• Starting at the youngest ages, children are challenged to develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

• Eighth graders push their intellectual limits with passiondriven research projects.

families from many cultures and backgrounds embrace and live out shared values: honesty, caring, joy, responsibility, respect, and excellence.

• Skilled faculty guide children through hands-on learning, arts, and athletics, and help them grow into effective leaders.

Classic Subjects Informed by Modern Perspectives

—Nicole Buck, Middle School Latin Teacher

BEING BELMONT DAY

For a unit on ancient medicine, we explored how the Hippocratic Oath has changed throughout its history, specifically how it was rewritten in the wake of civil and racial unrest in the United States and in response to the pandemic.

Students see and understand an ancient topic through a contemporary lens that they themselves are experiencing.”

BELMONT DAY SCHOOL FAST FACTS

23%

of students receive financial assistance

40% of students identify as people of color

6:1

Student-Teacher Ratio

Families hail from

30

cities and towns

Bus transportation available from

BOSTON and

25

after school enrichment classes offered annually

83% of faculty have an advanced degree

BELMONT DAY SCHOOL FAST FACTS

CAMBRIDGE

INTENTIONAL WHOLE-CHILD CURRICULUM

Be a child.

Be a learner.

Be intentional.

Be honest.

Be excellent A journey through Belmont Day honors what each child needs as a student and human being. We know children must move their bodies and be seen and appreciated for who they are. Teachers find creative ways to get children up and active throughout the day. Faculty members get to really know each student and their unique family background and experiences.

This allows them to understand how to best challenge and support each student while respecting a family’s goals and values.

Our intentional, sequenced curriculum threads across disciplines and through each school year. We support students toward independence. Public speaking is an example of our scaffolded curriculum. Pre-kindergarten students begin to share their words and work before a large group at weekly assemblies. By third grade, they are doing more formal presentations for their State Fair project. At the end of eighth grade, public speaking and research skills come to fruition when students present their year-long research projects with authentic confidence to the community.

Belmont Day's approach to education: • Embracing our mission to foster intellectual curiosity, honor differences, and empower meaningful contribution guided by six core values.

• Fostering a community that encourages taking risks to learn.

• Providing our dedicated faculty with many opportunities for professional growth and leadership.

• Offering choices within boundaries for students to own their education.

• A continuous emphasis on building and reinforcing critical thinking skills.

• Building play and opportunities for joy into the curriculum.

I came to Belmont Day in sixth grade for more engaging and rigorous academics. I definitely found that challenge in so many ways I wasn’t expecting. In my social studies class, I got to build up my coding skills.

With a partner, we built a website on ancient Persia with an interactive map of famous places and people.”

—Sebastian ’23

INTENTIONAL WHOLE-CHILD CURRICULUM

Teachers prepare students for the quickly changing world beyond Belmont Day. Each lesson is designed to challenge students to consider subject matter in different contexts. Technology intertwines with art. Data is analyzed in social studies. Walks on a nature trail inform science. Teachers constantly seek out real-world examples that bring learning to life.

LOWER SCHOOL

Be curious.

Be an explorer.

Be joyful.

Belmont Day is a place that honors the voices of children. Where the whimsy and wonder of childhood are carefully and intentionally preserved. Where learning real world problem-solving skills happens alongside play.

Our lower school students’ curiosity helps drive the curriculum.

A walk in the woods that surround the campus, for example, might inspire a unit on birds and their habitats. Or students who have a strong interest in technology or art might find opportunities to integrate these passions into a social studies or literature project.

They dive into algorithmic thinking from the youngest grades and enjoy a curriculum where subjects don’t exist in silos. A teacher might integrate a technology activity with alphabet recognition by challenging a student to use their coding skills to program a “Bee Bot” robot while also identifying various letters within a maze.

Extra Support In kindergarten through second grade, a reading specialist works one-on-one and in small groups to provide explicit reading instruction.

In grades three through five, students who benefit from it participate in Focus class. Guided by a learning specialist, they practice strategies for independent success in reading, writing, math, and executive function skills.

With the knowledge that their voices and actions matter, students gain confidence and a belief in their own agency. For example, a second grade read-a-thon raises money for a local farm that donates all of its fresh food to area meal programs and food pantries. Students request pledges from friends and family, track their reading, and then experience a full work day on the farm on community service day.

Students experience the best of both worlds at Belmont Day—they enjoy the warmth and coziness of a small school and the resources of a bigger one. Cross-graded partnerships that pair each older grade with a younger one help build that warmth and community.

Through both intentional activities and impromptu fist-bumps in the lunchroom, each child gets a chance to admire an older student and then, someday, to lead the partnership themselves.

—Betty Chu Pryor Lower School Head

LOWER SCHOOL

Throughout lower school, there are opportunities for risk-taking — thoughtful moments when students are guided to push themselves, learn from their mistakes, and celebrate their efforts.

Our faculty are wonderful at understanding each child as an individual, meeting them where they are, and helping them stretch beyond their comfort zone.”

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Be a leader.

Be responsible.

Be empathetic.

Middle school at Belmont Day creates a steady path between childhood and adolescence, balancing serious learning with playfulness. Students are given the right balance of structure and choice throughout the middle school experience.

Middle schoolers make learning their own at BDS thanks to the responsive nature of the curriculum. They can chart their own course with curricular options and opportunities for leadership provided in the arts, athletics, clubs, and world languages.

Guided by a dedicated, skilled faculty, who love working with this age group, students learn to lead with confidence.

Being a pre-k through eighth grade school, we’re at an advantage in terms of keeping childhood going a little longer.

For example, in the woods, you can see these really elaborate structures that seventh grade students have built. That kind of imaginative play is so much what they need to stay healthy and feel connected to each other.”

—Liz Gray, Middle School Head

Club offerings change every year. Here are some recent favorites:

MIDDLE SCHOOL

• Model UN • Ballet • Film • Reverse Engineering • Cartography

Be

yourself.

CAPSTONE & HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT

Capstone is the apex of the academic roadmap at Belmont Day School — personalized, authentic, and intentional. By the end of eighth grade, every student completes an independent study on a topic of deep interest to them and demonstrates mastery of the subject in an oral presentation for the community. Topics are wide-ranging and some have tangible impact within the school community or beyond — such as when a student who researched alternative energy presented a lesson to third graders who study environmental science and the effects of oil spills. “While the Capstone journey’s path is unique for each student, it delivers consistent results. Students discover themselves as confident and creative learners along the way,” says Jen Friborg, Capstone Coordinator.

Recent Capstone Topics • Artificial intelligence • Black hair culture • Evolution of board games • Title IX and women in sports • What makes the perfect taco?

• Cryptocurrency • Impressionism • Political third parties • Sustainability and nuclear energy

Capstone includes: • Identifying an area of interest • Analyzing research sources • Weekly meetings with a faculty mentor • Writing a ten page paper with bibliography

• Designing and creating a project related to the topic • Sharing their research during a 20-minute presentation, open to the entire school community on what they have learned

Beyond Belmont Day Belmont Day graduates are ready to fly in high school. Finding the right placement for each student is a thoughtful process focused on where they can continue developing their curiosity, enthusiasm for learning, and building on the strong academic foundation established at Belmont Day. High schools report that our graduates are leaders both in and out of the classroom. “We’re focused on fit above all else,” says Sarah Merrill, Director of High School Placement. “The process is very personalized, and each year and each student is different. Our goal is always to ensure that students and their families have a successful and joyful high school experience.”

CAPSTONE & HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT

GO BEYOND. GO BEYOND.

Learn more about high school placement:

STEAM: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ARTS, AND MATHEMATICS

Be a questioner.

Be an engineer.

Be okay with making misteaks.

s e k a mist

Be analytical.

Innovation weaves in and out of learning at Belmont Day across grades and disciplines. The Barn is a hub of creative energy. It features the IMPACT Lab—our innovation space with tools for fabrication, coding, and digital arts, art and woodworking studios, science lab, and breakout spaces designed for collaborative work. From pre-k through eighth grade, students learn how to use technology to create useful things and how to be thoughtful consumers of what others make.

• Lower school classrooms: Each year, students build their tech toolkit, learning coding skills and deepening their algorithmic thinking.

• IMPACT Lab: Digital arts electives fuse creativity, design, and fabrication processes.

• STEAM Expo: This event celebrates innovative work at all stages. Students share prototypes — even those that didn’t work — as an important part of the learning experience.

• Capstone projects: From creating a virtual Latin classroom to allow students to explore the metaverse to building a website for finding the best tacos in the area, eighth graders integrate technology into their final projects.

• Cross-curricular projects: Head of School Brendan Largay teaches Shakespeare’s Macbeth to seventh graders, and then they create a virtual reality Merge Cube simulation of symbolic scenes from the play.

—Annie Fuerst Director of Innovation

STEAM: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ARTS, AND MATHEMATICS

A sampling of places to see innovation:

Innovation for us is rooted in empathy. What are we doing to make our communities more inclusive places?

At BDS, it is important for us to ask, ‘Who am I designing this for?’ So often, the answer is we are designing for ourselves and our perspectives, putting ourselves at the center. As educators, we know that there is a beautiful place where technology, innovation, and the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging can intersect.

When we intentionally consider a design’s purpose, our students can be changemakers.”

ARTS

Be inspired.

Be expressive.

Be original.

One thing that makes arts unique at Belmont Day School is the institutional commitment. For example, the school sponsored a trip for the whole middle school to travel to New York City to see the installation of The Gates exhibit in Central Park. We ended up meeting the artist, Christo, and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, in the park — they noticed the striking orange scarves we had the students make for the trip. It was magical.”

—Anne Armstrong Arts Teacher and Coordinator

Creative expression has been at the heart of a Belmont Day education since day one. Ample space and time are dedicated to artistic pursuits—two art studios, a woodworking studio, two music rooms, and a performing arts center mean students can explore vocal and instrumental music, theater arts, woodworking, sculpting, printmaking, painting, photography, drawing, ceramics, and even sewing.

Sixth graders enjoy the Arts Launch program, which provides a foundation in each of the six arts disciplines offered in middle school. Then in seventh and eighth grades, students choose from among 30+ different electives. This way, students will experience at least two classes from each discipline. Students photograph each piece of art they create so that by the end of their time at the school, they have a vivid record of their growth over the years.

Seventh and eighth grade arts electives have included: • Acapella • Painting explorations • Architecture in clay • Soft sculpture • Game programming • Music of protest • Hip-Hop artists and their legacy • Kumiko lanterns • Shakespeare • Makeup design

ARTS

Be

im

a n i g a

. e it v

Be STRONG. Be fit.

Be healthy.

STRONG

PHYSICAL EDUCATION & ATHLETICS

Fitness and sports are for everyone at Belmont Day. Physical education classes offer diverse experiences that foster the joy of movement and appreciation for a healthy and active lifestyle.

Students practice teamwork and are introduced to the principles of fair play. Gradually they are introduced to a range of sports in an intramural setting. The choices are varied to provide something appealing no matter a student’s experience. For a student newer to sports, they might try a JV team or mountain biking. A student who has played on a club team for years might choose to continue that same sport, perhaps at a varsity level. Others might pick something new—flag football, wrestling, or ultimate frisbee. Someone who doesn’t want to be on a boys’ or girls’ team can choose an all-gender team. Our athletics program is another place where students can choose what is right for them.

What success looks like: • The self-confidence developed in PE classes prepares middle school students to take on the physical challenges of orientation trips to Outward Bound Education Center, Cardigan Mountain, and Project Adventure.

—John O’Neill Director of Athletics

PHYSICAL EDUCATION & ATHLETICS

From learning how to be a good teammate in sixth grade to taking a leadership role as a team captain in eighth grade, our middle school athletes mature and grow over their years together on our courts, fields, and trails.

We expect a lot from our young athletes, and there is a lot of opportunity for character growth in the trajectory of this program.”

• A student whose first exposure to competitive running was at Belmont Day found she had a talent and developed a love for it. She went on to run in high school and then as a recruited athlete at Yale University, competing at the national level.

“I can’t believe we were running around that track in middle school, and that’s how this all started,” she told Mr. O’Neill.

Be COMPETITIVE.

Athletic Offerings Fall Teams • Boys’ JV & Varsity Soccer • Girls’ JV & Varsity Soccer • JV & Varsity Flag Football • JV & Varsity Volleyball • Field Hockey • Cross Country Winter Teams • Boys’ JV & Varsity Basketball • Girls’ JV & Varsity Basketball • Fencing • Wrestling • P.E.A.K.: Physical Exercise, Adventures, Knowledge Spring Teams • Boys’ Lacrosse • Girls’ Lacrosse • JV & Varsity Tennis • JV & Varsity Ultimate Frisbee • Mountain Biking • Track & Field

Mindful Moment

I made a video compilation for students of professional athletes using breathing techniques to see that it is not just me telling them that deep breathing is valuable.

LeBron James, Simone Biles, and Mikaela Shiffrin are all doing it. Before our big Friday Night Hoops game, we practiced deep breathing. We won the game. Is it because of that? Who knows?

But it didn’t hurt. That’s for sure.”

—Alex Tzelnic Physical Education Teacher, Coach, Mindfulness Director

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING

Be brave.

Be empathetic.

Be respectful.

Be yourself.

We value supporting students and helping them develop the skills they need to go out into the world, to be good, solid, global citizens who understand the value of diversity, the value of difference, and how that enhances and elevates not only their orientation to academic excellence but also their orientation to being in the world. We want them to be able to navigate difficult situations, and difficult conversations, create community, and find success through partnership with other people.”

At Belmont Day, our approach to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is action-oriented and focused on intentionally exploring social identity, social bias, and social justice in all realms. Our curriculum incorporates multiple perspectives and teachers are encouraged to be responsive to world events. Our DEIB team helps children and adults step into difficult conversations with courage. Our deeply-held belief is that diversity enhances and elevates academic excellence and empowers students to become responsible and respectful citizens.

—Connie Yepez Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

annually to an incoming sixth grade student who demonstrates strong academic potential, traits of leadership, interest in contributing to our robust arts and athletics programs, and demonstrated commitment to living Belmont Day School’s values.

The Raphel Scholarship is a three-year, full-tuition merit scholarship open to applicants who identify as African-American/ Black or Hispanic/Latinx.

Growth, Development, and Belonging Belmont Day values health, wellness, and a sense of belonging as integral to our whole community.

Our intentional curriculum for all ages covers topics ranging from friendships to healthy decisionmaking to digital wellness.

Faculty and parent education in these areas is offered as well.

Spaces to Connect and Learn • Identity affinity groups • Ally groups • Opportunities for middle schoolers to attend diversity conferences • A parent book group focused on the perspectives of marginalized communities

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING

The Annette Raphel Scholarship for Leadership and Diversity is awarded

COMMUNITY

Be appreciative.

Be collaborative.

Be connected.

Be loved

I vividly remember coming into school and wondering, ‘What will this place make of me?’ People walked up to me and said, ‘Hey, do you want to play tag?’

I know it sounds simple, but the teachers got to know me. It felt so personal. I think this shaped me and helped me grow as an individual and as a learner.”

—Tadhg ’24, Belmont Day student

Every student and faculty member adds their handprint in paint to the wall in the head of school’s office when they join the community. It is a powerful symbol of the truth about this place — we are all in it together. Belmont Day is a community where students are greeted each day by an adult who welcomes them by name.

Practices beyond the classroom help students feel safe and that this is a place where they can be their authentic selves.

One way we help students be known and connected is by making voice recordings of their names spoken available to the community.

It’s a subtle yet very tangible way to honor and respect our students.”

—Josh Sussman School Counselor

Belmont Day was founded by parents in 1927, and the home-school partnership continues today as families engage in parent education sessions about topics as diverse as Singapore math and socioeconomic belonging. Through social gatherings and parents’ association activities, many families build meaningful and long-lasting connections during their children’s time at Belmont Day. The Schoolhouse, built around an original stone cottage that housed the school at its founding, connects us to our history.

The Barn, built in 2018, expanded the scope of what is possible with modern spaces for athletics, arts, and innovation.

Belmont Day is a safe place to take risks, to soar, to become yourself.

It’s a place where learners and leaders thrive in an inspiring community.

ALONA_S/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

What makes BDS special for me is the community. There are teachers who I have known for almost a decade.

I think it’s really special to know these teachers for so long. I think no matter what grade you join in, you still feel that same community that I have felt since kindergarten.”

—Natalie ’23

Community building events and traditions include:

COMMUNITY

• Sharing Assemblies • Family-style dining • Fall Fest • Community service • Social and educational events for parents • Spirit Days

ADMISSIONS

Be One of Us! We welcome families to learn more and to visit Belmont Day to get a glimpse of the magic in action.

Contact us to learn about joining our community:

Financial Assistance Belmont Day’s goal is that any child who is accepted will be able to attend.

We encourage families for whom the cost would be a barrier to apply for needbased financial assistance, whether they need to cover a small gap or most of the cost of tuition.

We make grants each year ranging from 5 percent to 99 percent of tuition.

Schedule a parent-led tour:

Contact our office: Liz Parfit Director of Admissions lparfit@belmontday.org (617) 932-3884

admissions@belmontday.org

Be BELMONT. 55 Day School Lane Belmont, MA 02478 (617) 932-3884

www.belmontday.org