Word on the Bosque
Settling Into Our 30th School Year
It is hard to believe that we are already more than four weeks into Bosque’s 30th year. The past month has flown by with the busyness of our staffulty orientation and professional development week, our new student and family orientation, the excitement of the first day of school, a stunning senior sunrise, a beautiful convocation ceremony, grade-based retreats, and the pleasure of welcoming all of our parents and guardians into the classroom during Back-to-School Night. The best word to describe our launch has been smooth and joyful.
I’m excited to share that we’ve started this year celebrating some great successes:
We achieved a 30% growth in new student enrollment over last year and reduced student attrition by 4%. We’ve already kicked off the 25/26 admission season and nothing is more important than having our community share their positive experiences of the school with prospective families. You can help by encouraging folks to engage in the admission process, introducing friends and colleagues to the school, inviting them to events like our upcoming Fall Fiesta, and writing online reviews. Whether you are an alum or current parent, grandparent/friend, current/past trustee, or community partner, I would be so grateful if you could take a few minutes to share your positive reflections about Bosque School (even in just a couple of sentences) on our review sites.
Thanks to the efforts of our amazing philanthropy director, Valery Galanter, and the engagement of our community, last year we surpassed Bosque’s biggest-ever annual fundraising goal of $580k, raising $614k (this is above and beyond Jenny Plane’s transformative million-dollar gift). We also had 98% staffulty engagement in the Bosque Fund, surpassing the national average of 76.3%. That is truly an amazing statistic and reflects the commitment of our incredible staffulty to not only support their students academically, socially, and personally, but also to stand in support of the mission and values of our school. We have a goal each year to have 100% community participation, so whether you are a current or past parent or guardian, alum, or friend, I hope you will help us start moving the needle on that goal.
Our annual student, staffulty, and parent and guardian surveys showed many impressive upward trends. Please take a moment to read some of the highlights here.
Know a family who would be a good fit for Bosque School? Invite them to our Preview Nights!
Preview nights allow you to take a glimpse into what makes Bosque School classes unique. We design learning experiences that encourage students to explore challenging concepts and ideas and to be daring in their pursuit of deep understanding. Prospective families will attend four immersive 20-minute classes and have the opportunity to connect with Bosque School’s teachers, admission team, and administration.
Tuesday, 9/24, 5:30-8:00 PM: Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Athletics, & Languages. Where else can you dance, sing, throw paint, play pickleball, and go on a Mexican exchange in one evening? Come to Bosque School’s first of two Preview Nights and see how we can bring your child’s brilliance to light.
Tuesday, 10/8, 5:30-8:00 PM: STEMM, Humanities, & WELLBEING. Engage in interactive classes in science, robotics, math, humanities, and our signature whole-child program, WELLBEING.
Convocation
A Warm Welcome and Inspiring Start to the New School Year at Sanchez Park
Students, parents, and staffulty gathered in Sanchez Park on Tuesday, August 13th, the first full day of school, for Convocation. Mark Fidel, chair of the board of trustees and proud father of Josiah Fidel, ‘24, welcomed the crowd seated in the filtered light of the great cottonwoods. Jessie Barrie, head of school, was inspired by the hit movie "Inside Out 2" to reflect upon the complex emotional lives of adolescents. She focused her attention on the new character in the film sequence, Anxiety. Then came the new student government co-presidents, Walker and Mason, whose lighthearted humor did a great job quelling any first-day-of-school anxiety.
First-Day-of-School Math Problem Challenges Students Across Grade Levels
The annual first-day-of-school challenge problem in all math classes in both the upper and middle schools brought students together to solve a fun, creative problem that managed to challenge and intrigue students at all grade levels. The tricky problem stemmed from a post in a Facebook group of teachers across the country inspired by the book "Building Thinking Classrooms." The problem ignited frenzied problem-solving first by our own math teachers, who discussed and modeled the problem before using it with their classes, trying to anticipate the way students would experience and address it.
Senior Sunrise
First day of school Photos
The Bosque Fund
With the start of every school year comes the launch of our annual fundraising campaign, the Bosque Fund. From WELLBEING to immersive courses to the arts and athletics, the Bosque Fund supports dynamic, engaging, and transformative learning experiences for our students and allows us to provide more students with financial aid, positioning us as a national leader in expanding access to independent schools.
Each year, the Bosque Fund makes our mission possible, and the Bosque Fund is made possible by you.
In this milestone year, our 30th anniversary, we call upon every one of our community members to make a meaningful contribution to the Bosque Fund and to help us reach our ambitious goal of raising $1,500,000 before the end of the school year. Just one month after convocation, we have already raised more than $500,000 in gifts and pledges.
Help us build on this incredible momentum, and be part of this historic year by making a gift today.
Fall Fiesta!
Join us on September 20, 2024, from 6-9 pm for a fun-filled evening of food, games, and music as we celebrate Bosque School’s annual Fall Fiesta!
During Fall Fiesta, we invite the entire community to our beautiful campus for a carnival under the cottonwoods—a truly special event where family and friends will gather to eat, drink, play, and enjoy the spectacular fall colors along the bosque and in our own Sanchez Park. We are strongly encourage all attendees to preregister. Admission for Fall Fiesta is FREE, but preregistering will help expedite your day-of check-in process. Proceeds from this event will support need-based financial aid.
Bosque School Anniversary: Thriving at Thirty
Bosque School is proud to be turning thirty! This special birthday is a great opportunity to look at the school’s history since its founding in 1994 and to celebrate this milestone in small and large ways all year. There have been three decades of morning meetings, the development of a vibrant student body and faculty, ever more diverse offerings in academics, arts, and athletics, and the development of signature programs like Senior Thesis and Field and Community Science. Throughout the decades, we have been indebted to visionary leaders, including our beloved founder Peggie Ann Findlay and a long list of trustees, who, along with founding head Gary Gruber, all raised funds and guided the school’s mission and growth—including the move in 2000 from a former church in the Northeast Heights to our current idyllic setting on the bosque.
Club and Organizations Fair
School hasn’t really started until you’ve joined a club, right? During lunch on Thursday, August 22, Bosque School students had their chance to browse this year’s many groups and organizations, which encircled the quad with their representatives, flyers, candies, and stickers — and, of course, always a great pitch as to why a student might want to join.
Learning Specialist Amy Gurley is sponsoring the newest member of the family of affinity groups. Led by Meena ‘26 the group seeks to bring together students who identify as neurodivergent, giving all interested in joining the group “a safe place to discuss the struggles and surprises of living with a different thinking structure.”
Wildlife students have a great new mentor, too, in staffulty member Donny Kelley-Currens, who is working full-time this year as Bosque School’s “Field and Community Science Educator and Videographer.” He is sponsoring the Cranes View Podcast Club, which offers students interested in any topics related to nature and wildlife an opportunity to produce short podcasts.
Physics, With Strings Attached
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Middleton’s physics class set up force tables in the lab, testing mathematical calculations to confirm the concept of vector addition. They wanted to see what it looks like to add forces—magnitude and direction—and to see how those forces demonstrate the mathematical relationships they’d established.
After calibrating the tables, the students arranged three strings over pulleys, from which various weights were hung, to create vector quantities of force along various angles. In search of better precision, they took preliminary notes on the process, concentrating on the possible constraints of the particular vector problem they were considering, constraints that would induce or create errors.
Transforming Summer Reading: Mr. Etigson's BTTV Project and Student-Led Activities Energize 7th-Grade English
For the past ten years, 7th-grade English teacher Sean Etigson has been transforming how students respond to their summer reading assignments. At the beginning of each school year, the students in Mr. Etigson's class take on the roles of television journalists for Book Talk Television (BTTV) as they analyze the themes in their summer reading books and give a report in the form of three-minute newscasts. This entertaining and engaging project emphasizes the importance of setting learning goals for book discussions, evidence use, and presentations.
Students are assigned different roles for their presentations, such as host, theme person, theme passage person, and recommendation person, each with specific expectations set out in a rubric for evaluating the presentations. These roles create a sense of purpose, showcase the students’ knowledge of their books, and even give them a chance to have some fun in the spotlight.
WELLBEING
We are excited to welcome two talented additions to Bosque School’s student support team: upper school counselors Matt Bierds and Lyndi Spears. They join our middle school counselor, Dr. Becky Bone, in our counseling department, working together to support the academic, physical, social, and emotional well-being of our upper school students.
Last fall, in recognition that September is Suicide Awareness Month, Dr. Bone shared an insightful letter with our community, offering valuable advice, encouragement, and resources for families of middle and upper school students. Her thoughts are just as valuable now as we adjust to another school year.
Bosque School Accolades
Congratulations to Bosque School’s College Board National Recognition Award Winners!
We are delighted to celebrate thirteen outstanding Bobcats: Nick C., Simon C., Sophie G., Everett H., Miquela K., Kaleb L., Maddie N., Mason N., Simon P., Rea S., Steven S., Charles S., and Max Y. These exceptional students have earned well-deserved academic honors through the College Board's National Recognition Program.
Celebrating Tradition and Triumph
THE 22ND ANNUAL COACH DAN SHAW CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL BRINGS TOGETHER RUNNERS AND ALUMNI
The Coach Dan Shaw Cross Country Invitational Meet—in its 22nd year—attracted nearly 400 competitors from 18 schools to our campus on Saturday, September 7, which was a clear, cool morning, perfect for a nice long run.
The Bosque School runners that day, a small but intrepid group, included high school students Audrey, Alana, Tinle, Lelia, Davie, Ma’Ayan, Dylan, Sagan, Jack, and Lucas, who ran the 5K distance. Middle school runners included Adela, Jacoby, and Atticus, who ran the 3K course and crossed the finish line within seconds of each other. A surprise appearance by Bosque School alum Amanda Sayer, class of 2010, who is now the coach of the Desert Ridge Middle School team, made a sweet, full circle for Dan Shaw, who coached her when she was a student at Bosque School.
Learning From Place: New Mexico History Classes Visit the Coronado Historic Site
Bosque School’s 10th-grade New Mexico History course, taught by upper school humanities teachers Erin Zavitz and Meg King, explores early indigenous history, the formation of pueblos, and the interactions between Spanish settlers and Puebloan people. Their recent field trip to the Coronado Historic Site brought these lessons to life, offering students hands-on experience with the subject matter. By visiting the site where Puebloan people and Spanish settlers once interacted, students were able to engage directly with the history they’ve studied, deepening their understanding of the cultural and historical significance of the region.
Though named after the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, the site is the former Kuaua Pueblo, a Tiwa settlement along the Rio Grande. Adobe buildings and kivas have been excavated on site, and one kiva is fully restored. Students learned about the agricultural, religious, and artistic traditions of the Pueblo as well as its connections to extensive trade networks throughout the region.
Bobcat Highlight
We'd like to introduce Mason and Walker, our Student Body Presidents for the 2024-2025 school year. Both bring a wealth of enthusiasm and interests to their roles. Walker is passionate about social justice and student leadership, while Mason combines his love for politics and hands-on learning with an adventurous spirit.
Get to know them better and learn about their vision for the year ahead in their interviews linked below.
MEET THE TEAM
We are excited to introduce Dana Alexander as Bosque School’s new Assistant Athletic Director and Physical Education teacher! Dana brings over a decade of experience in sports management and education, having previously worked at 21st Century Public Academy in Albuquerque. Known for instilling values of hard work, discipline, and integrity in her students and athletes, Dana is dedicated to fostering both personal and athletic growth.
We'd like to introduce you to our new Upper School Math Teacher, Tassos Bareiss. Tassos brings a unique blend of expertise to our team, transitioning from a successful career as a software engineer to a passionate educator. With over six years in the tech industry, Tassos is committed to creating collaborative, project-based learning experiences in STEM education, and he emphasizes a culturally humble and learner-centered approach in his teaching.
Athletics
Submit photos and stories to our marketing and communications team, and your alumni photos and stories to the philanthropy department.