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BHS Principal Sabrina Westdijk
BHS Principal Sabrina Westdijk
Message from the Principal
Message from the Principal
April 27, 2026
Greetings, BHS students, families and community members. I hope that you all had a restful Spring Break, and that you're feeling ready for the final seven weeks of the school year. We were very excited to welcome students back this week, and look forward to an eventful May. Students will be receiving their YES placements in a few weeks, we will be wrapping up the semester by the end of next month, and then we will have two weeks of the Year End Studies Program to close out the year.
More information will be coming out soon, but we're also looking forward to throwing some special year-end events during our last day of school (a half day) on Monday, June 15. Please mark your calendars, since there will be an opportunity for family and community members to come out to show support and celebrate our students and staff. We will not just be ending a school year, but bidding farewell to our temporary campus and our downtown location, and that calls for an extra special summer send-off. We've been grateful for our almost six years nestled among downtown business, and we are looking forward to expresisng our appreciation and commemorating the space that has been our learning home.
A couple fun ways to get involved, right now, that I want to highlight:
Call for 2026 Teacher and Paraeducator of the Year Nominations
We are calling for nominations for our faculty recognition awards. It's important that our entire community (students, staff and families) have the opportunity to recognize excellence, so all BHS parents and guardians are invited to submit nominations for these two honors. The administration will review all nominations and select an honoree for each award. Here are the two nomination forms. Please submit your nominations no later than May 8th!
The Teacher of the Year and Paraeducator of the Year will both be named during the Academic Awards Ceremony on May 18.
Seeking Submissions: A New Street Name for A New BHS
Our new high school will be opening soon. Currently, it is located on a street called Institute Road. The district and the City of Burlington don't feel that name is, well, particularly inspiring or spirited. Right now, and for a limited time, we have the opportunity to change the street name to something more aligned to our high school. We are calling for submissions for a new name. Any BHS student, parent, or faculty/staff member is welcome to submit one idea for our new street name.
You can submit a new name with THIS FORM. If you want to submit a name for voting, you must do so by Friday, May 1.
The following week, we will begin our first round of voting, which will be open to ALL BSD students and staff. We will have multiple rounds, each time narrowing the field, until we get a finalist and semifinalist. We will then submit our winning street name to the City before the end of May.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support of BHS, our students and staff.
With appreciation,
Sabrina Westdijk
ANNOUNCEMENTS & UPCOMING EVENTS
ANNOUNCEMENTS & UPCOMING EVENTS
BHS Academic Awards Night
BHS Academic Awards Night
Save the date for the BHS Annual Academic Awards Night, hosted for a final year in the HMS Auditorium.
Families of award winners will receive notice next week (without details about which award they will receive); we encourage all honorees and their families to attend, but all students and faculty are welcome!
6/15 Half Day: Final Day for 9th-11th graders
6/15 Half Day: Final Day for 9th-11th graders
We will end the year strong for 9th, 10th, and 11th graders during a half day on 6/15. Keep an eye out for details in the next newsletter.
Seniors are excused from the final morning of school. We will see them for the senior luncheon and mandatory graduation rehearsal that afternoon.
BHS 2026 Commencement is Tuesday, June 16
BHS 2026 Commencement is Tuesday, June 16
BHS Graduation is on Tuesday, June 16 -- the day following the final day of school in BSD. The ceremony will be hosted on our new campus this year.
Please refer to the last two issues for details about rehearsal and ceremony times, and check out the Graduation FAQ shared in this issue below.
SEAHORSE CELEBRATIONS
SEAHORSE CELEBRATIONS
BHS Violinist Honored
BHS Violinist Honored
CONGRATULATIONS! to Lisa Zhou-Hackett (12) for receiving the Burton O. Cowgill New England Scholarship at the New England Music Festival late March. This scholarship is awarded to one instrumentalist and one vocalist. Both recipients must be seniors who have participated in the NEMFA Concert Festival for all four years and have received the highest performance rating at the solo and ensemble adjudication festival. Click the photo to watch the announcement!
BHS Musicians Head to NEMFA Festival
BHS Musicians Head to NEMFA Festival
CONGRATULATIONS! to Arlo Bolles, Nadia Comba, Lily Dantscher, Siena DeMink, Tomas GaviriaCullins, Louis Napolitan, Brynna Swift-Herzog, Lyla Trigaux, and Lisa Zhou-Hackett for their participation in the New England Music Festival in Gilford, NH late March. Students were selected after auditioning with hundreds of others throughout New England.
Green Up Club Improves Composting at BHS
Green Up Club Improves Composting at BHS
The BHS Green Up Club began a new initiative this month to help get more food scraps into the compost bin in the cafeteria at lunch. Student volunteers stood by the cafeteria compost bins and helped students sort their food scraps into the compost bin and keep trash out of the compost bin. Food waste is a significant source of global greenhouse gas emissions, and composting is one way to help reduce our environmental impact as a school.
On April 14th, the Green Up Club conducted its final waste audit of the year, with the goal of measuring the success of the cafeteria composting program. After sorting through an entire school day’s worth of trash, recycling, and compost, we measured 30.8 pounds of food scraps in the compost bin and only a few small pieces of trash! This is a huge improvement compared to the previous two waste audits, where we found 9.9 pounds of food waste composted on September 18th and 2.6 pounds on February 12th, as well as significant amounts of trash in the compost bin. We hope to continue this program next year as we enter the new building and look to find new ways to reduce our school’s waste!
Attention: Graduation 2026 Information
Attention: Graduation 2026 Information
Commencement is only weeks away, on June 16 at our NEW BHS (10-11:30 am)!
This Tuesday, the 28th, there will be a senior class meeting that will be stacked with graduation essentials and information. All graduation information can be found here: Graduation FAQ.
Community Service Reminder:
Please be reminded that seniors in the graduating Class of 2026 must submit documentation of completed community service hours by 3:30 PM on Thursday, May 28th, 2026. Candidates for graduation will not be permitted to participate in the commencement ceremony without a recorded completion of their community service requirements.
More details about what qualifies as community service can be found in these slides and this information sheet. Students can find blank Community Service Forms in the Counseling Office in room 113 or print it using this link.
BHS Afterschool Program
BHS Afterschool Program
Students are welcome to join any club at any time, or fit clubs in around other commitments like athletics.
Reach out to Paul Jones with any questions, or if you have any suggestions/ideas for new clubs you'd like to see at BHS, this year or next.
BHS Athletics
BHS Athletics
Spring Sports: The season is officially underway! It’s not too late to join a team. Don’t forget to register on PowerSchool if you haven’t already done so. Instructions attached.
TWIS: Check out the week-to-week action here in #BSDVTAthletics – This Week In Sports
Mark Your Calendars: ACE Awards will be held on Monday, June 8 at Hunt Middle School. Formal invitations to come from the Athletic Department. We are also looking for student-athlete MC’s for this event. Reach out to the Athletic Department with interest.
Website Reconfiguration: Our athletics website is going through an overhaul in an effort to better streamline communication and resources available to families. We anticipate full completion of this work by May 1.
Social Media: Follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram – @BSDVTAthletics
BURLINGTON CITY & LAKE SEMESTER
BURLINGTON CITY & LAKE SEMESTER
BCL16 has had another dynamic and learning-filled week! We consulted with the new independent theater Partizanfilms on how to bring more youth to their space, and worked on creating our collective Art Project. We also paid another visit to the city’s newly acquired open space along Lake Champlain to learn about our non-human neighbors who make their homes in Burlington’s wetlands!
Burlington City & Lake Semester is recruiting for next year’s cohorts, and applications are open! If you think your student would thrive in this program, we would love for them to apply. Here is a link to the BCL application! And here are some links to help students learn more about BCL:
or check us out on Instagram: @btvcityandlake
Opportunities for Student Leadership
Paid Leadership Opportunity for VT Youth
C&S is looking to recruit the next class of Carnegie Young Leaders, a yearlong fellowship supporting teams of youth (ages of 14-24) in developing real-world solutions to issues they identify in their community.
We are particularly interested in reaching applicants in VT and would love your help sharing this opportunity with students in your district. Applications are open until May 4th. I have included more information about the fellowship below and you can use our partner toolkit with assets to spread the word in your newsletters, on social media and beyond.
The Carnegie Young Leaders experience provides:
Up to $7,500 in funding to cover stipends and project expenses
Expert coaching to help level up fellows’ impact
A network of peers across the country to lean on and learn from
Opportunities for in-person learning, project development and networking
City of Burlington Seeking Student Feedback
The City of Burlington will be kicking off planBTV: 2050 on April 30th, and invites students and members of the school community to help co-create a vision for the future of Burlington.
The event will run from 3:30 - 8:00 PM at 1 Main Street, and you're invited to drop in even for a few minutes.
You'll be able to talk about your vision and priorities with the plan staff and neighbors, engage with data and questions at various interactive stations, and enjoy some light refreshments throughout.
Burlington's students and children are our future, and we hope to hear their perspectives as the City undergoes this ambitious planning process.
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