News
Cross Country Recap 10/22
Lucy '25 shares a recap of the BUA Cross Country team's race on October 22: The cross country team ran another amazing race this week on the familiar territory of Gann Academy. The team pushed through unexpected heat and extended hills and ended strong! It was a great race for spectators with three loops around Gann’s soccer field, a short stint in the woods and winding around the back of the school. The race ended in a final sprint around the edge of the baseball diamond, perfect for fans to watch. Special shoutout to Sara '28 for crushing her first ever race! Another shoutout to our seniors, running their final (ever!) regular season race. And finally, congratulations to all the team members who joined this year, pushed themselves in practice, and have been running incredible races. Their hard work is obvious to anyone who watches and it’s incredible to see how... More
BU Connections
Earlier this week, we hosted our BU-BUA Connections event – a fun evening gathering of BUA current parents, parents of alumni, and prospective BUA families who teach and work at the University. The evening gave me a chance to thank this cohort for all the ways they enrich our students’ experience. Many of them teach BUA students in their University classes. One professor told me that his first impression of BUA came from teaching a BUA student in a master’s level economics course. He was puzzled that a 16-year-old was the strongest contributor in the bunch and felt like he just had to learn more about BUA! We hear stories like that all the time. These families help out in so many other ways. They hire BUA students as researchers in their labs. They advise senior theses. They speak at our school meetings and suggest other great colleagues to do the... More
Boys & Girls Soccer Recap 10/18
Metch '25 shares the following recap of the BUA Boys Soccer team victory against Commonwealth at Fall Festival on October 18: Boston University Academy took the lead early, with Ollie '25 opening up the scoreboard by tapping in a corner kick to make it 1-0 in the first half. Commonwealth fought fiercely, locking down BUA's offense until the second half. Then, Austin '28 dazzled by weaving through five defenders down the right, delivering a perfect assist to Connor '25 at the far post, who tapped it in beautifully. Caleb '27 followed with a stunning far-post strike from a tough angle, extending the lead to 3-0 with just ten minutes left. In the final moments, Commonwealth launched a relentless attack, pinning BUA in their half. But with 30 seconds remaining, Nathan '28 made a crucial defensive stop, passing to Connor '25, who one-touched it to Caleb '27. Caleb then curved a perfect pass... More
Thank You to our Families
We held our annual State of the School event last night. It is a festive evening where parents, guardians, teachers, and staff come together for social connection and to hear a bit about how things are going at the school. My favorite part of the event, aside from the magnificent performance by the Swamp Cats – our select jazz combo – was fielding questions from BUA families. The questions were not about any individual student, but instead telegraphed an interest in the success of the institution. The spirit behind several of the questions was explicitly about how parents can help. What kind of social entrepreneurship opportunities are available to students and how can parents open more doors? As the school builds more partnerships in the City of Boston, what role can parents who live in Boston play? This school is fortunate to have such dedicated and generous families. Each year, dozens... More
Major Lydia Hill ’11 Receives Distinguished Alumni Award
BUA is delighted to present the 2024-2025 Distinguished Alumni Award to Major Lydia Hill '11 for her service in the United States Air Force as well as for her advocacy on behalf of LGBTQIA airmen. This annual award, launched in 2022, goes to an alumnus/a who best exemplifies the values of BUA and has used those qualities to make an impact on the community and world around them. Nominations for the award are solicited from the entire alumni community, and recipients are selected by the BUA Alumni Council. Major Hill graduated from BUA in 2011 and went on to the United States Air Force Academy, where she received her commission in 2015 as a distinguished graduate. Major Hill left her own legacy at USAFA, founding the Spectrum Alliance for LGBTQIA cadets, which is still in operation today. Major Hill has worked with KC-135s and F-16s as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer, served as a Wing Executive Officer, More
A Teacher’s Impact
Earlier this week, I spent three days visiting a peer school and leading a committee of educators from around New England tasked with evaluating that school for reaccreditation; all independent schools in our region go through a process like this periodically. For those of us visiting, it was a wonderful chance to immerse ourselves in another school culture and learn from excellent peers. For me, this visit was special in another way. A member of the visiting team was one of my favorite teachers from when I was a boy in high school. Aside from my parents, he was probably the biggest influence on how I grew up and on the person I’ve become. He is a big reason I became a teacher. We have stayed in touch over the years, which has mostly consisted of me asking for advice. I have just recently made the transition to calling him... More
BUA Seniors Earn National Merit Honors
Thirty-four percent of the Boston University Academy Class of 2025 received recognition in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program competition. The competition honors the nation’s scholastic champions and recognizes exceptional academic promise in high school seniors nationwide. Seventeen current BUA seniors were named National Merit Commended Scholars. Out of these 17 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. Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The nationwide pool of Semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Semifinalists will have the opportunity to compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $25,000 Scholarships. National Merit Scholar finalists will be announced in February of 2025. One member of the BUA Class of 2025 received College Board National Recognition Program honors by... More
Cross Country Recap: 10/1
Ada '25 shares a recap of the BUA Cross Country team's race on October 1, 2024: The cross country team crushed another hilly race at BISB this past Tuesday! The course started with an uphill battle, leading the runners into a partially wooded trail, and eventually back onto a pavement stretch. In honor of the course’s three laps, I’d like to give three special shoutouts. First, congratulations to freshmen Maya '28, James '28, Neil '28, Jonathan '28, and Yusuf '28 for showing up and putting their all into this race! Their hard work this season shone through in their fierce starts, and their cheers for one another kept them going throughout the course. Second, a special shoutout to Daphne ’25 for an especially strong finish. Coming into the final stretch of the race, Daphne was neck and neck with another runner—with a final pump to the gas, she sprinted towards the... More
Love of Learning
I recently had the pleasure of covering an 11th-grade English class for a teacher who was out for the day. The teacher had left behind a great lesson; in his absence, he asked students to discuss several questions he had prepared related to the chapters of The Scarlet Letter. The hour flew by. The students – with no guidance from this former history teacher except for a passing clarification about Calvinism – engaged in an non-stop energetic conversation around the oval table. They pointed to specific language in the text to support their arguments – refreshing in an age where facts don’t seem to matter. They built on one another’s points. They asked one another questions: “How did you all interpret the narrator’s description of . . . .” When they challenged one another, they did so with respect: “I didn’t see that. Where in the chapter did you pick... More
Why I Greet Students in the Morning
On most mornings, I stand outside the front entrance of the school and greet students by name and with a fistbump. A new student asked me why I do it. There are a lot of reasons, and I thought it might help to share them with all of you. For one, the morning can be stressful, particularly on days when the MBTA is cranky and traffic is bad. Students carry that stress with them, along with the anticipatory stress of whatever test or quiz or game or concert or might be coming that day. My hope is that a warm, personal human connection from an adult before walking through the door can bring the heart rate down and spirits up. There’s something psychologically important about being seen, called by name, and welcomed as an individual. And there’s something comforting in the consistency of the ritual at the start of the day. More