Advisor
The advisor system is the foundation of all aspects of academic, social, and emotional development at BCDS. Frequent meetings with advisors allow students to have regular contact with a faculty member. The advisor maintains close contact with the student’s teachers and with the parents, serving as a liaison, a mentor and an advocate.

The Afternoon Program
A mandatory after-school program for all BCDS students that provides them with opportunities to participate in activities related to athletics, the arts, and community service in addition to their regular curricular courses. Students interact with classmates and students from other grades, try new activities, develop skills in areas that are already familiar, and get to know their teachers, who often coach and advise these activities, in another arena.

Annual Fund
An integral part of the operating budget at BCDS. Parents, alumni, grandparents, staff, and friends of the school are invited to contribute to the Annual Fund to support the fiscal health of the school. Each year, the Annual Fund supports academic, arts and athletic programs, pays salaries, maintains and improves the campus, and supports financial aid.

Artist-in-Residence
Begun in the fall of 1994, the artist-in-residence program brings a working artist to BCDS every year. Students are able to experience and contribute in various ways to the artist’s work. Since 1994, four visual artists, a jazz musician, a classical pianist, a dancer, and a playwright have enriched the arts curriculum at BCDS. The artist-in-residence for 2004-2005 is a costume designer.

Black Box Theatre
A small, intimate performance space located in the performing and visual arts center at BCDS. The black box theatre is a large square room with black walls and a flat floor that seats 125 audience members.

Bradley Hall
A large meeting and performance space that is located in the central section of the main building. Bradley Hall was completed in 1930 and now features a large stage, a balcony, and technical machinery for large-scale productions, meetings and ceremonies.

“Cum Laude” Society
The Cum Laude Society is an international honor society devoted to the recognition of outstanding scholarship in conjunction with superior character. Membership is limited to no more than 20% of the graduating class. Each year the faculty members of the BCDS chapter evaluate candidates on the basis of their academic records as well as their intellectual motivation, character, and integrity.

Dress-Up Days
On special occasions during the year including Founders' Day, Cum Laude, Eighth Grade Promotion, and Final Assembly, students are expected to wear dress-up clothing. Boys should wear nice slacks, collared shirts and ties. Girls should wear a dress or nice pants/skirt with a blouse. All students should wear appropriate shoes.

Final Assembly
The last all-school meeting of the academic year. During the Final Assembly, administrators and faculty give a number of awards to students and other faculty members that recognize noteworthy achievement and contributions to the school community.

Founders’ Day
Each year, BCDS holds a Founders Day assembly in early November to celebrate the founding principles of the school. The assembly begins with a processional of the Head of School, student leaders, alumni guests and a faculty guest speaker chosen by the students. Other elements of the assembly include a choral number by the upper or middle school chorus, a few words from the Head of School, and a speech by the faculty guest speaker.

Harvest Homecoming
A social event for the BCDS community that occurs on a Saturday early in the fall. Activities include multiple home sports games, great food and various activities for younger children.

Heliconian
A literary magazine compiled by a staff of BCDS students. The Heliconian is an exposition of writings and art work from every grade at BCDS. Students are encouraged to submit their work, either anonymously or with his or her name attached, to the magazine.

Independent Study
All academic departments at BCDS offer the option of independent study for academic credit to students who wish to pursue a topic that lies outside of or beyond the existing curriculum. Students, usually juniors or seniors, work closely with one or more teachers in developing the course of study as well as the evaluative process.

Interdisciplinary Studies
Over the past five years, BCDS has provided interdisciplinary study opportunities for students in grades nine through twelve fostering research, writing, oral presentation, and interviewing skills and providing hands-on learning experiences.

Junior Off-Campus Privilege
From the end of spring break to the end of the school year, students in the junior class with parental permission and in good academic standing are permitted to leave campus on foot during free periods or unassigned time. Students are expected to sign out in the reception office and also sign in upon return. Students returning from off campus are not to be late to classes, meetings, rehearsals, or athletic practices or games; lateness or other violations of the off-campus privilege may be a cause for the revocation of the privilege.

Lincoln Gallery
An exhibition gallery, located on the first floor of the main building at BCDS. The Nancy Lincoln Galley hosts several art shows each year. These shows include student, faculty and alumni art, as well as art from artists outside of the BCDS community.

Morning Meeting
The whole school attends morning meeting in Bradley Hall every Thursday. This student-run gathering provides time for presentations, announcements, celebrations, and cheers. The meeting assures that the whole BCDS community will be together at least once a week.

Mente et Manu
Beaver Country Day School’s motto. The philosophy behind “Mente et Manu,” which means “With Mind and Hand” in Latin, still forms the guiding policy of BCDS. It has never been the contention of the school that one develops certain kinds of thinking such as “logic” only in “academic” classes and others like “imagination” only in “art” classes. Every area of life at BCDS from recreation through exams is planned to develop in students the basic interests, attitudes, and abilities which produce individuals with personal integrity, finely developed minds and bodies, and a high sense of social responsibility.

Parent E-Newsletter
A monthly electronic newsletter sent to all parents containing campus news and important dates.

Peer Leaders
Peer Leaders are Upper School students in grades ten, eleven and twelve who act as resources for eighth grade students. After submitting applications to the Counseling Office, all students who wish to become Peer Leaders undergo a rigorous selection process by both the counselors and the current group of Peer Leaders. New leaders are chosen on the basis of maturity, interest in the well-being of younger students, commitment to the program, ability to follow through and most particularly, the ability to be successful role models for younger students. Following ten weeks of training, the Peer Leaders work with the eighth grade students during a term, meeting once a week.

Progressive Education
At BCDS, progressive education has three main elements. First, progressive education involves a kind of curriculum that stresses active engagement in the learning process. Second, progressive education means BCDS has a kind of community that values recognition and respect boundaries of culture, age, gender, ability, race, religion, and ways of being. Finally, at BCDS progressive education includes a kind of teaching that could best be described as responsive teaching, in which teachers respond to the varied needs and capacities of all students.

Rogers Room
A light-filled room located on the second floor of the main building. Originally designed as the school’s library, the Rogers Room soon became too small for the library’s growing collection. The Rogers Room evolved into a meeting and performance space and recently underwent renovation to become a more modern meeting and study space at BCDS.

Senior Projects
Seniors spend three weeks in May engaged in a project of their own design. These projects are an opportunity for seniors, in their last month of high school, to immerse themselves in an in-depth exploration of an academic subject, artistic interest or community service activity. Students plan the venture with a faculty advisor during their senior year and, at the end of May, present what they have learned from the experience to peers and faculty.

Service Learning
Service learning is a valuable component of the Middle School curriculum. Each term advisories spend one half day at an off-site, work together with their peers and advisor on-site, and return to prepare a reflective presentation for groups that might visit the same site in the future. Service learning projects expose the students to many community issues, including poverty, hunger, discrimination, elder care, and conservation.

Sign-Out Privilege
Seniors in good standing may leave campus during their free periods, providing that they “sign-out” on the list in the front office. Underclass students may not go with them. Seniors must return for their next commitment on time. When violations of the expectations occur, individuals will lose the open campus privilege; frequent violations by a class may cause this privilege to be suspended or withdrawn from all seniors.

Social Action Day
An entire day devoted to performing community service and social action and to discussion of social justice issues..

Wednesday Forum
A time for any member of BCDS to present a topic or performance of his or her choosing to the Upper School community. Sometimes there are guest or alumni speakers. Such presentations have included a series of poetry readings by students, a chamber ensemble performance, and a consciousness-raising session on race by the Diversity Committee.