News
HOS Blog: Community around a Campfire
I’m writing to you from Camp Burgess, where our 9th and 10th graders have enjoyed several days of ropes courses, rock climbing, kayaking, swimming, cards, board games, and bonding. This year promises a return to normalcy we have not experienced since the start of the pandemic, including the revival of traditions like this one. It is heartwarming to see the smiles on our students’ faces, to hear them laugh, and to watch the spark of lifelong friendships. On our first night here, students gathered in an outdoor amphitheater for a bonfire and s’mores. Mr. Stone called for an impromptu talent show, inviting students – individually or in groups – to volunteer to come down to the stage/fire pit areas and share a talent before getting their s’mores. What started as a crowd control measure to make sure we didn’t have dozens of teenagers roasting marshmallows at the same time turned into something really special. Students sang everything from Don Maclean’s... More
Curricular Innovation in English, History
As a result of the vision and hard work of the faculty this spring and summer, and inspired by conversations with students over the years, BUA students will engage in a revised history and English curriculum this year. BUA’s humanities program has been, since the school’s founding, one of its great strengths. Our mission highlights the promise that, at BUA, students will “read deeply” and “think critically.” Those ideas permeate the English and history classrooms. History students dive into primary sources, eschewing schools’ traditional reliance on textbooks and challenging students to engage with language and ideas that push their intellectual ability. In English, students likewise read challenging, rigorous texts that one would expect to see on a college syllabus. In both departments, students test their ideas with one another in conversation around a seminar table, often staying after the bell or carrying those discussions into the hallway. Our graduates often tell us that... More
Dr. Monica Alvarez Steps Into Director of Equity and Inclusion Role
We are excited to announce that, starting this fall, BUA English teacher Dr. Monica Alvarez will step into the newly-created Director of Equity and Inclusion role at our school. Dr. Alvarez came to BUA following fourteen years at Trinity School in New York City, where she taught English and helped lead that school’s DEI efforts as Equity & Inclusion Coordinator. Since arriving at BUA in the fall of 2021, Dr. Alvarez has been an inspiring teacher for 9th and 10th graders, a trusted advisor, club leader, and co-chair of the student-faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She will continue to teach ninth and tenth-grade English alongside this important leadership role. Dr. Alvarez offered the following reflection about her new responsibilities: “Two of my favorite things at BUA are the deep mutual appreciation and genuine care that shape so many of the interactions among its members. This year, I am looking forward to discovering... More
BUA Announces Curricular Innovation in English, History
In an August 5 letter to current students and families, Head of School Chris Kolovos announced exciting news about curricular innovation in the school's English and history programs. Read the full text of his communication below. Updated Booklist In June, we shared both the summer reading list and the term-time booklist for classics, math, and science. The reason for not including the booklist for English and history at that time was because our teachers in those areas have been deeply engaged, for several months, in a project to revise the curriculum, focused largely on the 9th and 10th grades, but also including changes in the junior and senior years. With that work completed, the updated booklist for the 2022-2023 academic year is available at this link. English & History Curricular Innovation As a result of the vision and hard work of our faculty this spring and summer, and inspired by conversations with our students... More
A New Sun Rises Over BUA as Mural by Sitarah Lakhani ’22 is Completed
This summer, a blazing, orange ombre sun rose over BUA—the BUA back lot, that is. Over the past six weeks, a vibrant, celebratory, and inclusive mural was painted on the 4,000-square-foot exterior wall of Sargent Gym, adjacent to the Bridge Lot and visible from the BU Bridge, Storrow Drive, the Massachusetts Turnpike, and from many points along Commonwealth Ave. The mural is the brainchild and passion project of recent Boston University Academy graduate Sitarah Lakhani '22, who conceived of this project as a sophomore at BUA. After years of persistence and hard work, her vision has finally come to fruition. Many hands made light work of the installation, as current students, alumni, and teachers pitched in to help paint: scaling scaffolding, braving the aerial scissor lift, and bearing the searing July heat to add their brushstrokes to this massive undertaking. Born and raised in Cambridge, MA, Sitarah has had a love for... More
Summer Research Highlight: Genomic and Computational Approaches to Gene Regulation with Dr. John Quackenbush P’24
Each cell in our body contains a set of instructions, encoded in a molecule called DNA, that helps determine both our traits—including things like height, weight, hair color—and our individual risk of developing diseases such as diabetes or cancer. DNA is a long-chain polymer, and these instructions are encoded in the DNA “sequence” (the series of polymer subunits) and grouped in “genes,” each of which carries the instructions for creating one of the proteins that make up our cells. The sequencing of the human genome at the start of the twenty-first century gave us a catalog of human genes and provided us with tools to explore how differences in our DNA make us unique. More than twenty years later, we are still exploring how genes, and the genetic instructions that control them, ultimately determine these traits. BUA parent Dr. John Quackenbush P'24, Professor of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics and Chair of the... More
BUA, BU Hosts NASA Downlink from International Space Station
On July 20, more than 500 middle- and high-school students and educators from across eastern Massachusetts descended on Boston University's campus for a day of space exploration and STEM education in the form of hands-on activities, lab and observatory tours, and presentations with BU faculty. Many of those in attendance were affiliated with local access and enrichment programs including Alexander Twilight Academy (a BUA partner), Upward Bound, the Calculus Project, and GROW (Greater Boston Area Research Opportunities for Young Women), among others. In the BUA gym, students built rockets out of film canisters, water, and Alka-Seltzer tablets; attempted to move a balloon along a length of fishing line in a fly-by-wire design challenge; and even had the opportunity to hold pieces of the moon and Mars, courtesy of the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum. Several BUA student and teacher volunteers were on hand to assist with the activities. The highlight of the... More
Class of 2022 Matriculation List
As our most recent graduates head off for the summer, we wish them the very best of luck on the next step of their journeys at college and beyond. From California to Canada, down the block and across the Atlantic, and many places in between, the BUA Class of 2022 is making their mark on the world. Check out the matriculation list below to see where they're headed this fall. We couldn't be prouder of you, Class of 2022. Send us a postcard, and don't forgot to stop by for a visit when you're in town -- you'll always have a home at BUA! Members of the the Class of 2022 will attend the following institutions in the fall: Boston University (13) Bowdoin College Brown University University of Chicago (2) Colorado College Cornell University (2) University of Florida Hamilton College Harvard University Massachusetts Institute of Technology (3) University of Michigan-Ann Arbor New York University (3) Northeastern University (4) Princeton University (2) Queen’s University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2) Rhode Island... More
Revs. Ray and Gloria Hammond Deliver Keynote Address at BUA Commencement
On Monday, May 23, Boston University Academy hosted its 28th commencement exercise at BU's Tsai Performance Center. The 45 members of the BUA Class of 2022 crossed the stage to receive their diplomas from Boston University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Jean Morrison and BUA Head of School Chris Kolovos. Dustin Zhang '22 and Henry Chuang '22 recited the Classics orations in Latin and Greek, respectively. Mell Aguiar '22 and Tanay Nambiar '22 delivered the student addresses. Following the ceremony, graduates and their families celebrated with a reception under the tent on BU Beach. Reverend Dr. Ray Hammond and Reverend Dr. Gloria White-Hammond, co-pastors of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, jointly delivered this year's Commencement keynote address. The Hammonds, partners both in life and work, are pillars of social justice and community activism in Boston. Ray Hammond and Gloria White-Hammond co-founded Bethel A.M.E. Church in Boston's Jamaica Plain. The son... More
BUA Junior Wins First Place at Harvard Global Health & Leader Conference
BUA junior Aditya Venkatesh '23 presented a proposal entitled "Learning to Love Learning: A Positive Feedback Loop Approach to Combating Procrastination" at Harvard's Global Health and Leader Conference on April 23-24 as part of the Community Pitch Competition, in which students research and design a health-related project that they want to implement in their home communities. Aditya's pitch, which focused on the topic of procrastinative behaviors in middle- and high-school students, won first place. Aditya hopes to implement research-based methods to combat procrastination, including meditation and mindfulness techniques, in schools and in greater Boston communities at large. The proposal stems from an article Aditya wrote in his freshman year at BUA entitled "Understanding procrastination through action control," which was a top 50 winner of the Harvard College Undergraduate Research Association (HCURA)'s Brevia Research Writing Competition. Aditya writes: "This project is very near and dear to my heart. I started thinking about this project... More