BCD’s 5th Grade Class (and special guest James fawcett) debuted a new play Mythapalooza! today to a packed house of students and parents. This adaptation of Circus Olympus by Lindsay Price and directed by Meg Agnew presents a humorous and contemporary spin on the classic Greek myths. If you did not get to the show today, it will be performed again tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. in Furey Hall. Hope to see you there!

We apologize – the announcement that came out last week about BCD’s March Vacation Camp had the wrong pricing and is now open to students in Preschool (4 years of age) through Grade 6!

BCD will be holding a special FULL DAY (8 a.m. to 4p.m.) and HALF DAY (8 a.m. to noon) VACATION CAMP during the school break which includes the days of March 15-19, March 22-26, and March 29.  The camp will be held at school and run by BCD parent Judy Merritt. Activities will include outdoor play and adventures, indoor and outdoor games, art projects, and fun with food.

Cost is $250/week for the full day program and $150/ week for the half day program. You may include Monday, March 29 at $50 for a full day or $30 for a half day. There is limited space available on a first come, first served basis.

Download Registration Form Now!

Please contact Coree Reid at 413-637-0755 or creid@berkshirecountryday.org for more information. This signed registration form and payment must be received by Friday, March 12.

The students in BCD’s 5th grade class will be putting on Mythapalooza!, a play based on “Circus Olympus” by Lindsay Price, this coming Wednesday, March 10 at 2:15 p.m. and Thursday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. in Furey Hall. The production is being directed by Meg Agnew. Please come out and show your support for our 5th grade actors.

Looking for a fun vacation week for your Preschool (4 years) – G3 student? BCD will be holding a special full (8 am to 4 pm) and half day (8 am to 12 noon) Vacation Camp during the school break (March 15-19; 22-26 and 29, 2010), to be run by BCD parent Judy Merritt. Activities include outdoor play and adventures, indoor and outdoor games, art projects, and fun with food. Cost is $350/week for the full day program and $250/week for the half day program. Limited space available – first come, first placed. Contact Coree Reid at 413-637-0755 or creid@berkshirecountryday.org to register and for more information.

This weekend is the start of trips week at BCD for Upper School students. 

On Saturday, the 8th grade will be taking off to the Florida Everglades.  The students will be spending six days observing wildlife and plant life while hiking through Mahogany Hammocks, Cypress swamps and mangroves in the Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve and Corkscrew Audubon Sanctuary; studying marine life by snorkeling the coral reefs at John Pennecamp Underwater State Park in Key Largo; and kayaking through Mangrove Islands in the Gulf of Mexico. Many of their travels will be directed by park rangers and naturalists. When they return, students will put together a Field Guide of the various bird species they will study and encounter.

Saturday is also the day 9th grade parents say bon voyage and adios to their children and pack them off for a 10-day trip to France and Spain. The students will be traveling to Barcelona and Vilanova, Spain, and then on to  Angoustine, Carcassonne, and Nimes, France, where they will get the chance to put their language skills to the test.

On Sunday, the 7th grade class takes off for Washington, D.C. where they will visit the National Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the National Gallery, National Archives, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, among other stops. They will also attend a performance of “Shear Madness” at the Kennedy Center.

This is an exciting week for all our Upper School students and we wish them good luck and safe travel. We can’t wait to see pictures and hear first hand about your trip!

BCD skiers and their families made the drive to Fryeburg, Maine last weekend for the Bill Koch Festival. Mother Nature cooperated with a gift of snow for the second day of the TD Bank Bill Koch Festival, and skies were sunny off and on all day as the racers cruised around the courses for the individual skate race and flew through the Starks Hill race courses. Great snow, fast skis, challenging climbs and joyful downhills brought over 225 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders across the finish line. Congratulations to BCD Nordic Skiers H. and J. Dolan, E. Velez and Q. Pollart, and also thanks to K. Pollart and A. Velez and their families for the support and cheering on they gave to these skies throughout the two day festival.

BCD X- country skiers participated in the Annual Sids race that took place at Prospect Mountain in Vermont this past Sunday. In the 5k race E. Velez  won a Silver medal and Q. Pollart took Bronze. In the 3k race A. Velez won a Gold medal for the girls and H. Dolan won a Gold medal for the boys. Other BCD  student participants were J. Dolan  and alumni O.  Dolan, who also raced in the 5k  giving all spectators an exciting finish. K. Pollart, A. Velez and H. Dolan also enjoyed racing in the  fun lollipop race. Some of the BCD skiers  and families will head to Fryeburg ME for the end of the season Bill Koch Festival  this coming weekend. Wish them luck!

Don’t forget – BCD’s Stage and Film Ensemble will  present “The Love of Three Oranges” starting this evening and running through Saturday night. Show starts at 7:00 p.m. on stage at the BCD Theater at 45 West Street in Lenox.

Every October, when our campus is alive with the flowers and foliage of fall and at its most beautiful, BCD celebrates one of its oldest and most beloved traditions, Grandparents/Friends Day – a visiting day eagerly anticipated by students, parent volunteers, and Grandparents/Grandfriends alike.

This year, Head of School Paul Lindenmaier welcomed 175 grand-guests to Berkshire Country Day School.  In his opening remarks, Paul talked about his own grandfather and the impact he had on his life as a mentor and role model, and the important role each guest in the room plays in the life of a student at BCD.

Grand-friends are then led to their classrooms by their students, who are eager to share with them the life of their classroom and introduce them to their teacher and friends. After a morning of classroom activities, students and their grand-friends share a brown bag lunch and then assemble in Fitzpatrick Hall for closing remarks and a rousing rendition of the BCD school song.

Said one grandparent, “my granddaughter was so upset when she had run out of things to show me – she didn’t want the day to end.”

Berkshire Country Day School’s Stage and Film Ensemble presents “The Love of Three Oranges,” a (sort of) comedy, mystery, drama, melodrama, whodunit, absurdist, farce, romance, fantasy, puppet show, pantomine, epic fairy tale.

“The Love of Three Oranges,” based on a traditional Italian Commedia dell’arte story by Carlo Gozzi, is a comedy that has its roots in Commedia dell’arte, a theatrical form based in 16th century Italy. At that time, plays were beholden to rules and strictures that kept the style austere and cold. Perhaps as a reaction, Commedia dell’arte, often performed outdoors by traveling troupes of actors, was the exact opposite. It was raucous, colorful, and full of improvisation, subverting the “rules of theater. he BCD Stage and Film Ensemble has combined elements of many different script versions, added a lot of tinkering of their own, and wound up with something that fits the BCD family of actors.

WHO:

Berkshire Country Day School’s Upper School Stage and Film Ensemble

 WHAT:

“The Love of Three Oranges,” based on a traditional Italian Commedia dell’arte story by Carlo Gozzi.

WHERE:

Winthrop Theater, 45 West Street, Lenox, MA,

 WHEN:

Thursday, February 25th through Saturday, February 27^th

7:00 P.M.