Bobcat Stories

A Bosque School student on the first day of the year! It began at sunrise with the seniors and their advisors gathered on the gymnasium roof to greet both the sun (or the rosy fingers of dawn, for all the new Odyssey enthusiasts out there) and to celebrate the beginning of their senior year together.

Senior joy began earlier in the week, with the painting of their parking spots. Each rectangle is a work of art, representing each senior’s life stories, experiences, and passions. This was a hard-fought privilege, a culmination of a decade of conversations with the administration. 

Convocation, held in Sanchez Park under the cottonwoods, was full of beloved first-day traditions. Sixth graders and seniors gathered in the quad and then processed to their seating, as Bosque musicians played. Board of Trustees Chair Jennifer DeGraauw welcomed the community of students, alumni, staffulty, and families with the simple but true messages that “you belong here,” and that the most important thing to remember is to “be kind.” Head of School Jessie Barrie followed with her signature convocation theme – how a summer movie – this time, Toy Story 5 – can remind us of who we are here at Bosque School, a place where you can keep the magic of childhood alive and maintain a sense of wonder, while still going boldly into every adventure, growing up and into more of who you are. 

The wonder theme continued when Alum Sophia Peffer ‘26 and C.J. ‘27 sang “Wonderwall” by Oasis, and the student speakers took the stage. They included middle school leaders Atticus and Paul (‘31) and Sebastian J. and Tas (‘27). They expressed gratitude for the programs and opportunities, special events, and performances that make up life at Bosque School, with a special shout-out to the warm and supportive relationships students and staffulty share.  

Advisor meetings, the joyful reunion of friends, and the meeting of a few new campus dogs accompanied a compressed schedule of all class blocks. Another favorite tradition kept every math class, from 6th grade through Calculus 2, engaged with a problem called “At Odds With the Evens,” from the book Mathematics Tasks for the Thinking Classroom. The task began by randomly generating a sequence of four whole numbers, then adding sequential pairs in an inverted pyramid of operations to find a single final result. The goal of the task, however, was to find a way to predict whether the final number would be even or odd just by looking at the initial list of four numbers. This simple challenge allowed younger students to use trial and error to discern patterns, develop a hypothesis, and test it out for durability. It allowed the older students to use their symbolic thinking skills to express the patterns as algebraic formulas. Regardless of the class and grade level, students came to the same conclusions through multiple paths and with great satisfaction.

As the student speakers reminded us: “every end is a beginning,” and “make this year one to remember.” It’s a kinda chic bit of wisdom, for both the class of ‘27 and the class of ‘33, all those in between, and the entire Bosque School community, to live by.