Birch Hills Academy - Independent School

Classes are cancelled tomorrow, Monday, May 29th due to ongoing wild fires in the area.

Enjoy your snow day student! BHA is closed for the day. Stay safe out there.

“Nature breeds curiosity; it helps to grow explorers rather than robots. It reminds us that we are part of something bigger. It grounds us, calms us.”

Ben Palmer-Fry

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” — Dr. Seuss

Building confident readers is at the very foundation of what we do .
The transition from learning to read to reading to learn is one key skill to creating confident and independent learners. When kids feel confident in their reading skills they soar.

Just enjoying the sun during lunch!!

Exposure to sunlight is said to increase the brain’s release of Serotonin boosting your mood and helping a person feel calm and focused.

With 5 acres of outdoor spaces and curated natural learning spaces our students get to enjoy the sun's benefit multiple times a day.

Do you make an effort to get outside everyday and soak up some rays?

School is Fun! And we think every student should experience the joys of learning from a young age.

We studied the many Birch Tress that surround our property and used them as inspiration for these beautiful paintings.

Birch Hills Academy

Fostering self-love connection, friendship and collaborative thinking for over 20 years 🤗

Want to learn more about our collaborative environment? Book a tour by clicking the link below with times available every Saturday afternoon.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfBPmXnayLae2mcFE3hc5bKQ8o7ltR6haYn9i9yanEhYSzfLg/viewform

Our Directors response to the Reading Recovery article posted in APMreports

I am not surprised at these findings. As an advocate for reading in early elementary education I have raised concerns about Reading Recovery at all levels of government. Specifically the one year focus.

During my years as a tutor, I worked with children who had gone through the Reading Recovery program and while they had made immediate short-term gains, they still didn’t have the skills that readers need to keep growing as a reader. The after-care (generalization and maintenance) is just as important as the intervention itself.

Offering a private school program that focused on the skills necessary to become strong readers and writers is why I founded Birch Hills Academy. Based on science, I developed a class-wide curriculum for primary grade students that is playful, engaging and builds confidence. The other key benefit is that the classroom teacher is able to identify very quickly those children who need increased support, implement right away, and start building their confidence in themselves as readers.

See the article here:

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/05/1096672803/reading-recovery-research-schools?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

Our students have been working on multimedia flowers in celebration of SPRING.

By integrating fine arts classes into our weekly schedule (music, art and dance) Birch Hills Academy students are able to connect with their classmates, their work and their environment in new and meaningful ways.

Did you have a favorite fine arts class as a kid? Let us know in the comments below.

We had so much fun cleaning up the school grounds for Earth Day this year.

Let us know what your favorite earth day activities are in the comments below.