What Parents Say

It was the first of September and school was still a week away. Our son forbade us from even speaking the word “school.” No typical dread of the end of summer in this house. No, rather it was an overwhelming, uncontrollable, six-year-old belly-busting energy about Burgundy that disallowed the mention of the word – he just couldn’t stand to wait another day.

There is a spark at Burgundy, a contagious energy like none we have seen elsewhere. For us, it was apparent from the beginning. Like many parents, we weighed the costs and benefits of private school. We live a short walk to a fine public elementary school. A few of our son’s friends were attending there. We toured it and, sure, it was O.K. We also looked at some of the other Alexandria private schools and they were all nice. Entirely fine schools.

And then there came Burgundy. From the moment we stepped onto this extraordinary campus, nestled in an almost impossible serenity just minutes from beltway congestion, we knew there was something different here. And, yet, we still didn’t know how extraordinary, innovative and downright fun Burgundy is.

In First Grade, our son is learning to play like an alpha wolf. He doesn’t dare skip a day of school lest he miss blowing up the volcanoes he and classmates have handcrafted. After pick up at the end of the day, he serenades us, at the top of his lungs, with “When the Saints Go Marching In.” A big first-grader now, he still runs up and hugs his Kindergarten teachers with true love and sincerity in his squeeze. He is confident, he loves to go to school, and he’s never had a bad day. Burgundy is that good.

Parents of pre-schoolers have made investment after emotional investment in their little ones. That is what makes the decision about whom to entrust with your child’s first school experience such a huge one. We nailed that decision. Now all that remains to be decided between his father and me: Who gets to accompany our son on his first trip to Cooper’s Cove?

current parent