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, effective use of the library, 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 also enhance the arts program.

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Faculty and Advisors

teacherOur 95 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, Tom 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 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.

Academic Facilities

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

The Blair Family Center for the Arts: The newest building at Bullis is the Blair Family Center for the Arts, which opened in April 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 by 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 that accommodates the entire student body and faculty. The space incorporates a flexible design, providing an ideal situation for both large and small productions.

Marriott Family Library: The Marriott Family Library, dedicated in October 1998, is a 15,000 square foot online digital library which combines the best of a traditional library with access to new technology and information media. Additional classroom space and a computer lab 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.

Bullis also maintains a fleet of school buses to transport students to school-sponsored events and to offer transportation to and from school on a limited basis. The physical plant and grounds are valued at about $110 million.

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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. Students are required to take one trimester of health and may elect to take a first aid/CPR training course.

The Bullis Athletic Center features a 1,000-seat gym, three basketball courts, a wrestling facility, a recently-renovated cardiovascular fitness and weight center and locker facilities. Bullis also has a newly renovated, 2,000-seat stadium with a state-of-the-art artificial-turf field and an eight-lane, all-weather track. The campus includes seven outdoor and four indoor tennis courts, outdoor basketball courts, two baseball diamonds, four soccer fields, a field hockey and lacrosse field, a softball diamond and a football practice field.

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.

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.

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), Ambassadors and Multicultural Student Union. The Physics Club and “It’s Academic” team are also popular. Community service programs are a vital part of Bullis and include Peer Mentors, the Freshman–Senior Citizen Theater Party and regular visits to Martha’s table.

Special events include Homecoming, World Hunger Day, Global Village, Recognition Day, Experiential Education 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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Student Body and Conduct

The Lower School enrolls 89 students in grades 3, 4 and 5. The Middle School enrolls 185 students in grades 6 through 8. There are about 100 students in each grade in the Upper School. The majority of Bullis’s students come from Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. In 2007–08, 143 students were members of minority groups, and 29 held international citizenship. Of the total enrollment of 640 students, 45% are girls, and 55% are boys.

Students are required to wear a uniform and sign the Bullis Honor Code. They may participate in Student Council and the National Honor Society and may choose from 20 co-curricular clubs. Upper School students are required to participate in sports, publications and/or theater after school for two trimesters each year.

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 2008, several art teachers offered an intensive art trip to Paris and Tuscany, in which students studied the great masters and also spent time working on their own art work. 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 to three trips are offered every year, and financial assistance is available to those students who demonstrate financial need and interest in the trips.

Extended Day

An Extended Day program is available for students in the Lower and Middle Schools until 6 PM. 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, for the month or trimester, or for the entire year.

Click here to learn about 1st CLASS (Creative Learning After School Sessions) which is being offered to Lower and Middle School students at Bullis. This exciting new initiative will provide an opportunity for your child to socialize with established friends; make new friends; experience new, different, fun, challenging activities; expand horizons; and develop additional skills under the guidance of talented teachers. We invite you to take full advantage of this program that will enrich the life of your child. If you have any questions, please call Phyllis Elperin, director, Summer and Auxiliary Programs, at 301-634-3660 or 301-983-5741. We hope your child will join us for this exciting after-school experience. Registration forms are due by September 12, 2008.

Summer Programs

Bullis offers a comprehensive schedule of academic and athletics programs open to school-age children attending both Bullis and outside schools. The Bullis Summer Programs include a six-week academic summer school and summer camp programs for school-age children in soccer, tennis, basketball, baseball/softball, volleyball and lacrosse. In addition, Bullis runs the Bulldog Day Camp for school-age children with programs in a variety of athletics, nature exploration, arts and crafts, swimming, special events and field trips.

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