News Archive

In late October, our Thursday assembly featured Sounds of Saving, a New York-based music and mental health nonprofit co-founded by Charlie Gross '88. Highlights included live music by Bartees Strange and Nicknames (Max Streitwieser '20, NYU '24) and a panel discussion with the artists, facilitated Lelo M. '28 and Liam B. '28. Both Bartees and Max visited music classes and hosted a discussion in the Library at lunch.

Cheers to the Burke Service Club, helmed by Charlie W. '26, Jack J. '26, Maya D. '26, and Taylor S. '26 and advised by Kamilah, on their first project of 2025-26.

Cheers to the seven runners who competed in the Middle School PVAC Championships in late October: Nina M. '30, Zia B. '31, Stone E. '32, Aisha C. '30, Ricky B. '32, Branden P. '31, and Max L. '32. Nina recorded the Bengals' best finish, running 15:05 in the 2-mile and finishing 8th. Zia ran strong to join her in the top 20. 6th grader Ricky ran 14:08 to finish 23rd out of 107 runners.

8th Grade on the Case

Congratulations to Vidya Seejattan P'20 (MS & HS Math), who has received the University of Chicago's Outstanding Educator Award. 

We are excited to share that Alice Crafford '21 was named a 2025-26 Fulbright Scholar, pursuing a master's degree at the Université Paris-Saclay and conducting research at the Institut de Physique Théoretique in France. Alice earned her undergraduate degree in physics from Carnegie Mellon University with minors in math and French. 

Microscopic Work
In Life Science with Amy, 7th graders are working with microscopes, creating their own wet mount slides to examine a variety of plant matter. Common in biology classes, a wet mount is "the technique of placing small section of infected tissue in a droplet of water for viewing with the compound microscope."

We had a high-energy, jam-packed weekend, starting on Friday, October 3, with a pep rally in the Atrium – headlined by Advanced Band in their first performance of the year. Bengals then headed to UDC to watch our Varsity soccer teams take on rival Field School. The girls' team took to the pitch first, playing Field to a tense 1-1 tie, with Marli N. '28 scoring the crucial goal. The boys' team ran away with the win, with numerous players contributing to a 9-2 final score on Friday evening. Extra thanks and cheers to EBPA and our parent volunteers for organizing food and drink and the Burke Dance Team for a great half-time performance!

On the Airwaves
Curtis' 11th and 12th grade History of the DMV elective visited our Van Ness neighbors at WAMU 88.5. They watched Jen White of The 1A host the show live (the topic of the day was anthropomorphism), experienced the inner workings of radio interviews and production, and then met with Jen when the broadcast concluded.

This fall in the Samara Studio Theater, 9th-12th grade performers and production crew will mount four different plays, all examining flashpoints in the recent history of civil rights in the United States. Save the performance dates: November 7-8 and 14-15.

Each fall, students in 6th-11th grade disperse across the DC region (or well beyond, in the case of our juniors), enabling them to build cohesion within their grade and form some new connections.

Last week, our student affinity group leaders (who range from seniors to 8th graders!) introduced themselves and their groups to the full school, including their planned service projects and events for 2025-26. Students will have the option to join one or two affinity groups per cycle, which meet on an alternating schedule.