Academics
Unique Programs
Farm and Food Studies
The mission of Farm and Food Studies is to actively engage students on a working landscape as they build skills to participate in a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient future.
Farm and Food Studies students have the unique opportunity to learn on-site at the Hildene Farm. Burr & Burton Academy and Hildene share institutional missions that promote integrity, service, civic responsibility, and sustainability, making for a rich and meaningful programmatic partnership. This partnership allows students to access shared BBA-Hildene Farm education resources, including: farm, forest, wetland, and meadow ecosystems; gardens, pastures, livestock facilities, and a dedicated BBA garden; a state-of-the-art teaching greenhouse; BBA’s farm classroom in an historic 19th century barn; and the knowledge and passion of working farmers.
In the Farm and Food Studies program, learning is . . .
Experiential
Students learn by doing – from science experiments to harvesting and cooking produce to spring planting with local farmers – and by collaborating with each other and professionals in the community.
Interdisciplinary
Students explore environmental and agricultural topics through multiple perspectives, connecting science, culture, history, economics, the arts, and other topics in order to understand the complex relationships between people and land.
Place-Based
Students build connections with the land, systems, and communities that sustain them by exploring authentic, local issues. Partnerships with local food producers and community organizations are a critical component of Farm and Food Studies.
While the core of the Farm and Food Studies program is the farm-based courses, students also have opportunities to participate in the program through class visits, community service days, summer farm employment, and student clubs.
Farm and Food Studies courses currently taking place at the Hildene Farm Classroom include Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture, CP Farms, Food and Systems Thinking, CP Ethnobotany, and CP/Honors Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. In addition, students can participate in a Farm Skills Internship or become a BBA-Hildene Farm summer employee.
Student Success Program
The Student Success program primarily serves first-generation, college-bound students.
Mission
Success Scholars will develop college and career readiness skills, strength of character, and a sense of purpose that will propel them toward a lifetime of success.
Pursuing Success--Program Goals:
Indicators of Success
Scholars will demonstrate the following success indicators:
Mission
Success Scholars will develop college and career readiness skills, strength of character, and a sense of purpose that will propel them toward a lifetime of success.
Pursuing Success--Program Goals:
- Scholars will become self-reliant; they will have a strong sense of financial and social independence.
- Scholars will effectively navigate relationships and resources, with the goal of ultimately contributing positively to the greater good of the Burr and Burton community and society as a whole.
- Scholars will develop a sense of self-worth through the process of setting and realizing personal and professional goals.
Indicators of Success
Scholars will demonstrate the following success indicators:
- Confidence;
- Academic proficiency and appreciation for the value of education;
- Transferable skills, including collaboration;
- Mindset of perseverance and optimism;
- Self-control, Self-worth and Joy;
- Establishment of a future vision to work toward;
- The ability to effectively navigate resources;
- Professionalism and knowledge of “Hidden Rules;”
- Healthy relationships with adults and peers.
The Student Success Program is a program built and designed to help scholars grow into successful young adults throughout their high school experience. Scholars are guided onto the path of success by researching and visiting colleges that they might be interested in, developing healthy and positive relationships with one another, learning the importance of advocacy and independence, and so much more.
-Jason Pergament
Director
-Jason Pergament
Director
Target Program
Any Burr and Burton student struggling to succeed in a standard, traditional secondary program or at high risk of dropping out of school is eligible to apply to the Target Program. The Target Program is an alternative education program located at a satellite campus on Richville Road in Manchester. Students receive individualized instruction and support for their coursework, designed to mirror the curriculum on the main campus.
The Target Program seeks to develop the following skills in each of its students so that they better understand their academic, social and emotional strengths and challenges: self-reliance; self-advocacy; perseverance; empathy; creativity and imagination; critical thinking and questioning; collaboration; goal setting, and communication.
Students interested in the Target Program should first discuss their interest with their parent(s) or guardian(s), Case Manager (if applicable), and School Counselor before completing the application found here.
Students interested in the Target Program should first discuss their interest with their parent(s) or guardian(s), Case Manager (if applicable), and School Counselor before completing the application found here.
Student Accessibility Services
Student Accessibility Services educates students who are identified through a special education review process as eligible for special education (specialized instruction) and who have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). An Evaluation and Planning Team determines a student’s eligibility for an IEP according to Vermont State Department of Education Special Education rules.
Two specific programs are available to meet qualifying students’ needs:
1) The ACCESS/Life Skills Program (Accessing Community, Careers, and Education through Successful Self-Determination) provides students with individualized support for academic and practical skills. This program focuses on the areas of functional academics, self-care, daily living skills, independent living, community access, and job training and placement. Social thinking is also an important component of instruction. By making specialized instruction available to students, the program balances the myriad educational and extra-curricular opportunities at Burr and Burton with the necessary skills for students to become independent adults and contributing members of the Northshire region.
2) The Learning Center is for students who need additional academic support to function successfully in regular education classes. In this program, specialized instruction is provided through the Study Skills course. The staff members help students identify learning problems; they provide remediation in the areas of deficiency; they tutor in the content areas; they teach specific basic skills, exam-taking skills, and organizational skills; and they help students develop strategies to manage behavior. Any student with a 504 plan may also receive support through the Study Skills class if their education team recommends it. In addition to Study Skills, identified special education students may take a core academic class at a modified level for credit through the Learning Center programs. Special Education paraeducators are available for those identified students who need assistance in their core academic classes.
Indirect services include consultation with classroom teachers, conferencing with parents, IEP development, management of students’ educational program, curricula revision, and coordination with other professionals involved in the process of special education. Special education personnel work with other agencies’ personnel to facilitate the transition of students to college or other post-high school or employment opportunities.
The Student Accessibility Services staff includes Vermont-certified learning specialists, a speech and language pathologist, paraeducators, and related service providers.
For more information, please contact program director Kimberly Stedman at kstedman@burrburton.org.
For more information, please contact program director Kimberly Stedman at kstedman@burrburton.org.
Special Services Categories
Special services are provided for students who qualify under one or more of the following categories of disabilities:
- Intellectual disability
- Emotional disturbance
- Orthopedic impairment
- Specific learning disability
- Visual impairment, including blindness
- Autism
- Hearing impairment
- Other health impairments
- Speech or Language Impairment
- Multiple disabilities
- Traumatic brain injury
- Deaf-blindness
- Deafness
Access Team
List of 19 members.
Offering every student a world of opportunities.
Burr and Burton Academy
57 Seminary Avenue
PO Box 498
Manchester, VT 05254
Phone: 802.362.1775, Fax: 802.362.0574
