Academic Program

Bullis operates three divisions, each guided by its own principal. The average class size of 15 encourages active student engagement in learning and allows the teachers to know their students individually.

The Lower and Middle Schools emphasize strong preparation in English, mathematics, science, history, art, music, classical and modern languages and computer literacy. They also focus on skill development, with students learning study techniques and effective use of the library, while honing their critical thinking and oral skills.

The Upper School provides a supportive and challenging program for college-bound students. The curriculum includes both traditional and innovative courses. The four years of required English emphasize writing and literary analysis. Students must take three years of math (courses range from algebra to AP Calculus), three years of laboratory sciences (biology, chemistry and physics) and three years of social studies (one of which must be U.S. History). Upper School students are required to complete at least two years of one language at the high school level and must study that language through a Level III course. Students may choose from a variety of art courses and from technology courses ranging from fundamentals to AP Computer Science. Honors and Advanced Placement courses and tests are offered in 18 subject areas.

The arts program encourages all students to appreciate and further develop their creative talent. All Lower and Middle School students take art and music. Middle school students participate in the performing and production aspects of a yearly musical. A school wide Festival of Light is performed in December.

Upper School students meet Bullis’s full credit fine arts requirement through studio work and history survey courses offered in art, music, dance and theater. Beginning and advanced courses in painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media, chorus, music theory, acting, stagecraft and set design are offered. Exhibits and musical or theater performances provide venues for students to learn and to enjoy the arts. Field trips to the area’s many artistic resources, such as the National Gallery of Art, the Folger Theatre and the Kennedy Center, enhance the arts program.

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Athletics

Athletics and physical education are an integral part of learning at Bullis. Beginning in the Lower School, students are involved in a physical education curriculum designed to improve skill development, exercise and fitness, social and emotional development and sportsmanship. Competitive sports are introduced as students move into the Middle School. Beginning in grade 6, students have the opportunity to choose from a variety of sports and compete in leagues composed of area independent schools. The Middle School fields approximately twenty teams for sports similar to those offered for Upper School.

Upper School students participate in interscholastic sports in the IAC (boys) and the ISL (girls). They may choose from football, cheerleading, boys’ and girls’ soccer, girls’ tennis, field hockey and cross-country in the fall; boys’ and girls’ basketball, wrestling, ice hockey and swimming (Upper School only) in the winter; and softball, baseball, boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, boys’ tennis, golf and track and field in the spring. The Bullis equestrian team competes year-round with other independent schools. Students are required to take one trimester of health and may elect to take a first aid/CPR training course.

The Bullis Athletic Center complex includes an athletic center, the Kline Alumni Stadium, seven outdoor and four indoor tennis courts, and seven athletic fields. The athletic center features a 1,000-seat gym, three basketball courts, a wrestling facility, a strength and fitness center and locker rooms. Kline Alumni Stadium seats 2,000 and has an artificial-turf field, an eight-lane, all-weather track and locker rooms. Outdoor facilities include basketball courts, three baseball diamonds, three soccer fields, a field hockey and lacrosse field, a softball diamond and a football practice field.

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Visual And Performing Arts

Students in the Lower School have a daily experience in the arts. Music and art combine to enrich and broaden their self-expression. A student-created musical provides an exciting outlet for these nurtured talents. Highlights include student performances in the Festival of Light and school-wide exhibits, as well as visits from musicians and artists. Students enjoy field trips to the area’s many cultural resources such as the National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery and Kennedy Center.

The arts program in the Middle School encourages all students to appreciate and further develop their creative talents by offering art and music every trimester. Highlights include an eighth-grade, student-produced musical, the Festival of Light, and many school and area-wide exhibits. Outings to the area’s rich resources continue to round out a field trip program similar to that of the Lower School.

In the Upper School, the program is designed to advance students’ appreciation of artistic expression. A student-centered, interdisciplinary approach balances the exploration of artistic traditions, the development of concepts and the building of skills. Using a newly ascertained vocabulary, students learn to express themselves, create and problem solve. The Visual and Performing Arts Department aspires to cultivate inquisitive, independent thinkers who synthesize the greater world through the arts.

School and area-wide exhibits, three musicals and theater productions per year, the Festival of Light and choral performances in the community provide opportunities for students to display their talents. Students perform in the Concert Choir, a non-select, mixed choir open to the students who enjoy singing and wish to improve their vocal ability within an ensemble. Selective singing groups include the Bullis Counterpoints, a mixed vocal ensemble; the Lied Guise, an advanced all-male a capella group; and an advanced all-female a capella group. Field trips to the Corcoran, Phillips Gallery, the Folger Theatre and Kennedy Center enhance the arts program.

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Technology

Bullis has made an unprecedented commitment to technology and to providing our students with a truly relevant education for the 21st century. The school has voice, video and data networks that rival those in large universities and high-tech businesses. Our library, completed in 1998, was designed and built after it was clear that the Internet, and access to information, would radically alter research and learning. We have successfully trained our faculty and staff to use technology as a tool; thus, they can use e-mail, post their homework assignments on the Web, use a sophisticated video distribution system and use basic productivity software like word processing and databases.

Our teachers are innovative users of technology in their classrooms. Many of our teachers and students regularly use presentation software like PowerPoint and HyperStudio. Our Science Department has aggressively integrated the use of electronic probes in chemistry and biology. And, our Technology Department offers a rich array of classes in programming, computer science and Web design.

Extracurricular Opportunities

In keeping with the Bullis philosophy of the well-rounded individual, the school provides a variety of activities, including participation in the student-produced yearbook, newspaper and literary magazine. Students may also be elected to class- or school-wide offices.

Among the most active clubs in the Upper School are Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), Bullis Ambassadors and Multicultural Student Union. The Physics Club and “It’s Academic” team are also popular. Community service is a vital part of Bullis and includes Peer Leadership, Freshman/Sophomore Senior Citizen Theater Party and visits to Martha’s Table.

Special events include Homecoming, World Hunger Day, Global Village, Recognition Day, Experiential Education and “Bullympics,” International Week and the Junior-Senior Prom. Weekly all-school assemblies and special assemblies feature speakers from a variety of fields as well as student performances and cultural activities.

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Daily Life for Middle and Upper School

The academic day, which begins at 8:00 a.m., is divided into seven 45-minute blocks. Lunch is served family style, with students helping in the serving and clearing of the meal. An activity period is incorporated into the schedule for breaks and assemblies as well as club and class meetings. Sports practices and play rehearsals occur when the academic day ends. Time is set aside for teachers to meet with advisees and students who may require supplemental instruction.

Extended Day

An Extended Day program is available for students in the Lower and Middle Schools until 6 p.m. Activities include a snack, outdoor time and a supervised study hall. There is an additional fee for this service. Students may enroll in the program by the week, month or trimester, or for the entire school year.

Academic Facilities

The school’s large suburban campus offers ample space for regular and summer programs and includes playing fields, woods and a pond.

The Blair Family Center for the Arts: The newest building at Bullis is the Blair Family Center for the Arts, which opened in April of 2002. The arts center and auditorium demonstrate the importance of the performing and visual arts at Bullis. The design promotes interdisciplinary teaching in the arts, providing teaching spaces for vocal and instrumental music, theater arts, dance, drawing, painting, photography, sculpture and ceramics. In addition, the arts center boasts its own multimedia computer lab and three multipurpose classrooms. At the heart of the center is a 750-seat theater with state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems. The theater accommodates the entire student body and faculty, and has a flexible design that can be used for both small and large productions.

Marriott Family Library: The Marriott Family Library, completed in October 1998, is a 15,000 square foot on-line digital library that combines the best of a traditional library with access to new technology and information media. Additional classroom space and thirty new computers are housed in the facility along with designated areas for the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools.

Academic buildings include Founders’ Hall with administrative offices, a dining hall, classrooms and the school’s book store. North Hall contains 16 classrooms, three science labs, a computer lab and a student commons as well as guidance and college counseling offices. South Hall, the center of most of the Lower and Middle School academic activities, has 14 classrooms, three science labs and a computer lab.

Faculty and Advisors

Our faculty members are dedicated professionals who share a deep, personal concern for their students. They are the school’s most important asset and are supported by a performance-based compensation program as well as opportunities for continuing their education. Faculty members serve as academic advisors in the Middle and Upper Schools. For all three divisions, there are designated counselors and learning specialists.

The Bullis head of school, Thomas B. Farquhar, has spent over 25 years in the field of education. He received his undergraduate degree from Earlham College and holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to his arrival at Bullis, Mr. Farquhar was the head of Westtown School for 13 years. His experience includes 11 years at Sidwell Friends School, where he was the assistant principal of the Upper School and where he also served as dean of students, physics teacher and head coach of the cross country and track and field teams.

Global Studies and Service

The Bullis Global Studies and Service program offers a broad variety of trips abroad in which Middle and Upper School students have the opportunity to travel in a way that “gets them off the bus.” The program encourages students to experience a new country and culture through service, language study or a specific area of academic exploration. For example, in the summer of 2007, several art teachers offered an intensive art trip to paris and Tuscany in which students studied the great masters and also spent time on their own artwork. Students have also embarked on service projects in Peru, Cambodia, India and China, while other Bullis groups have done exchanges with students in Turkey, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Two or three trips are offered every year, and financial assistance is available to those students who demonstrate financial need and interest in the trips.

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