News
61% of BUA Senior Class Receives National Merit Recognition
An impressive sixty-one percent of the Boston University Academy Class of 2022 received recognition in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program competition. Twenty current BUA seniors were named National Merit Commended Scholars. They are among the roughly 34,000 U.S. seniors recognized for "exceptional academic promise," and place among the top 50,000 students who entered the competition by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Out of these 20 Commended Scholars, five BUA seniors were named National Merit Semifinalists, placing them among the top 1% of all US high school seniors who entered the competition. Semifinalists will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million. National Merit Scholar finalists will be announced on February 7, 2022. Three members of the BUA Class of 2022 received a total of four College Board National Recognition Program honors by scoring in the... More
HOS Blog: The “I’m Just Not Good at Art” Fallacy
“I’m just not good at art.” How many of us have said, thought, or heard that at some point in our lives? Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of visiting three art classes. I watched students in first-year visual art working on contour drawings of simple objects stacked on their tables. A dozen ninth graders in introductory drama each performed simple movements of their choice, which their classmates analyzed using the Laban Principles of movement. And the Jazz Band worked on one of its first pieces of the year, “Duke’s Place,” where each member took a turn to solo; those solos ranged from one-note experiments to virtuosity, but they were all done with gusto! Particularly in art, but also in math and athletics, we sometimes fall into a trap: assuming that either you have it or you don’t. The art classes I visited embraced the opposite (and accurate) philosophy: while we... More
Dr. Monica Alvarez: “Voice and Belonging”
On Tuesday, September 28, BUA English Teacher Dr. Monica Alvarez presented a talk at All-School Meeting entitled "Voice and Belonging." In her remarks, Dr. Alvarez shared personal reflections of growing up with a stutter, how she overcame her speech impediment -- in two languages! -- and how she pushed through her fear to finally find her voice. Watch Dr. Alvarez's complete talk here:
HOS Blog: Let’s Focus on Student Engagement, not Participation
It’s time to rethink the student participation grade. Every three weeks, our teachers gather after classes for professional learning meetings — a chance for us to share ideas, learn from one another, and improve our practice, all in the interest of serving our students better. The topic for this week’s meeting was student participation. What is our expectation for how students participate in class? How do we communicate that expectation? How do we assess participation? The biggest takeaway was a consensus around the following reframing: Let’s stop talking about student participation and instead encourage student engagement. It’s a shift that many of our teachers have already made, and for good reason. As adults, we have all been in meetings where somebody monopolizes the conversation without moving the group forward; in fact, that behavior can often detract from the enterprise. Encouraging and grading “participation” can, inadvertently, create incentives for students to do just that... More
HOS Blog: Greeting Students at the Door
I begin most days standing outside the front doors of the schoolhouse greeting students. Some are just getting off the train, some emerging from their parents’ cars, others hopping off bikes or skateboards. Everybody gets a “good morning,” and sometimes students pause for a little conversation — a chance for a student to tell me about a lab they did in chemistry the day before or for me to pat them on the back for some good hustle in the soccer game. Last week, one ninth grader looked at me and asked, “Did I do something wrong? Did I miss something? Why are you out here?” I smiled and assured him that everything was fine and that I greet students just to be friendly. His question did make me think, though, about the purpose behind the ritual. The truth is that I’ve seen others do it and have adopted it just... More
Leaving Things Better than You Found Them (or The Grace in Picking Up Somebody Else’s Trash)
All-School Meeting Remarks on September 9, 2021 Chris Kolovos, Head of School Good morning. I find myself deeply moved at the sight of us gathered as a community like this. It feels like the first spring day after a winter that lasted far too long. All-School Meeting is a sacred time for me. It is a physical manifestation of -- in the language of our mission -- “our caring high-school community.” These meetings are a chance for us to share, celebrate, and laugh together in good times, to mourn and comfort one another in hard times. It is especially fitting that we gather in this space, which for its first sixty years served as Temple Israel. Today, we’ll start a tradition where I address the school at the start of each academic term. I hope to offer thoughts beyond the day-to-day. That tradition comes from my upbringing. When I was a boy, my head of... More
Class of 2021 College Matriculation List
As our most recent graduates pack up for college this week, we wish them the very best of luck on the next step of their journeys. The BUA Class of 2021 will attend the following institutions this fall: Boston College Boston University (10) Brown University University of California at Berkeley University of California at San Diego Carnegie Mellon University University of Chicago (2) Columbia University Cornell University Dartmouth College Harvard University (3) Haverford College University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Indiana University, Bloomington Kenyon College Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2) McGill University New York University Northeastern University (6) Northwestern University (3) Occidental College University of Pennsylvania (2) University of Rochester University of Southern California Stanford University Tufts University (2) U.S. Air Force Academy University of Glasgow University of Washington, Seattle
BUA Hosts ‘Double-Header’ Commencements at Nickerson Field; Student Speaker Delivers Address in the Style of Amanda Gorman
BUA hosted back-to-back Commencement ceremonies on the morning of Saturday, June 5 at BU's Nickerson Field. The 52 graduates of the Class of 2021 walked across stage to receive their diplomas from Head of School Chris Kolovos. Immediately following, 38 members of the Class of 2020 returned to campus for the graduation ceremony that they never had; their original commencement in May of 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic. Nearly 500 guests in total joined for the masked and physically-distanced outdoor events. Boston University Associate Provost and Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore gave the Keynote Address for the Class of 2021 ceremony. In his address, Dean Elmore, paraphrasing Dr. Walter Fluker (who himself delivered the Keynote Address at BUA Commencement in 2018), remarked: "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go ahead and do it, because what the world needs is people... More
BUA Senior Named Regeneron Scholar, Semifinalist in US Presidential Scholar’s Program
BUA senior Friedrich Liu '21 was named as a top 300 scholar in the 80th Regeneron Science Talent Search—the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and mathematics competition for high school seniors. A total of 1,760 students around the country entered the competition this year, which is owned and produced by Society for Science. In recognition of this achievement, Friedrich received a cash award of $2,000, and Boston University Academy also received $2,000 to use toward STEM-related activities. Friedrich was recognized for his research in Alzheimer's disease in conjunction with Beth Israel's Dynamical Biomarkers Lab, finding underlying patterns in patients with Alzheimer's disease through mathematical models. Using the Fourier transform and cluster analysis, Friedrich studied the brain signals of Alzheimer’s patients to explore the association between patients’ neuropsychiatric symptoms and their brain signals. Through his research, Friedrich found that behavioral and psychological symptoms were strongly correlated with EEG powers. He writes:... More
HOS Blog: High School Seniors’ Search for Meaning
Seniors in May sometimes share with us that their parents start behaving particularly oddly. They tear up for no obvious reason, unearth baby pictures, tell stories about their senior’s elementary school years, or try to renew old family traditions like board game nights! Seniors are also processing the same looming transition. Some cling to home and comfort, watch movies from their childhood, and nest with their families. Others go in the other direction, developing what may feel to parents like an allergy to being at home. “I’m going to IHOP with my friends -- don’t wait up. Can I borrow the car?” They are investing in those relationships and friend groups that will never be quite the same after this summer. There’s also a deeper question many seniors are wrestling with in May: “What was this all for?” They are realizing, some for the first time, that high school cannot have... More