Build a robot.

Create a business.

Present to the Shark Tank.

Write an original play.

Produce a documentary.

Explore global issues.

Solve a problem.

Bullis signature Programs

Discover your path.

Complementing the rigorous core academic program at Bullis are four schoolwide programs

that offer students unique opportunities to delve into interdisciplinary study, experiential education, research and hands-on projects.

From dreaming to conceiving, students in the Bullis Signature Programs learn that big, crazy ideas can often lead to game-changing

advances that tackle world problems. Or, they discover that exploring art and technology can

yield results that make people think, smile and applaud.

Bullis Signature Programs bring a world of possibilities onto our campus and show the exciting

connection between education and daily life. Students set themselves apart in a chosen area, fully prepared for

experiences in college and beyond.

Students in grades 2-12 delve into each of the Signature Program areas—Entrepreneurship, Humanities & Global Studies, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and Visual & Performing Arts—in age-appropriate programming to learn, experiment and gain appreciation. Program coordinators work with teachers and outside mentors to bring subjects to life and let the student experience expand through the grades.

Lower School students gets hands-on and up-close with such activities as an entrepreneur fair, building cardboard knee braces as an introduction to biomedical engineering, performing onstage and discovering foreign cultures.

Middle School students have greater opportunities to explore topics through an issues-based, modular approach. Interdisciplinary project-based learning activities merge subjects together to address a big topic, like protecting the Chesapeake Bay, building imaginative space colonies or containing infectious diseases. Students attend STEM workshops and participate in Junior Achievement financial literacy classes. Individual selection for majors, minors and clubs allows students even more time to explore specialized subjects.

Upper Schoolers may take classes in a wide variety of programs, and go further by electing to participate in a more concentrated Signature Program track that includes innovative courses, internships and mentorships. Year-long and capstone projects deepen the experience and stretch the imagination while developing life-long skills.

Supporting them throughout the years are teacher-specialists, expert mentors, innovative curricula and state-of-the-art facilities including theaters, dance and art studios, audiovisual labs, a Fabrication Lab and a Maker Space.

The new Gerald l. Boarman discovery center, which Bullis began construction on in Fall 2015, will provide even more 21st century space and resources for our Signature Programs. The 67,000-square-foot building in the heart of the campus will house teaching and learning spaces unlike any other academic building in our region, including:

� Lower School outdoor and indoor learning labs

� Fabrication Lab modeled after those at MIT

� Innovation Lab for Entrepreneurship

� Studio theater with flexible seating to showcase intimate performances or larger exhibitions

� Telepresence classroom to connect students with people around the world

� Flexible science labs and prep rooms

entrepreneurshipToday’s global marketplace requires creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication and

resourcefulness—the same values that Bullis teaches throughout its academic program. To further prepare students

interested in business, the Entrepreneurship Program provides students with engaging courses and unique opportunities. Based on real-world challenges, the program teaches skills and flexibility for an evolving entrepreneurial landscape.

Students learn to hone presentation skills, test and revise ideas, analyze trends, gain comfort with basic business principles and apply mathematics to fiscal models. They also become independent

thinkers who come up with big ideas, learn to support ideas with data and research and then modify plans as the

marketplace may dictate to achieve success.

proGramminG in all Grades

Lower School students practice turning business ideas into reality in the annual

Entrepreneurship Fair where they sell their products to raise money for a local charity. Other classes study an ideation process that encourages them to dream up solutions to typical daily challenges and then present those ideas to a “shark

tank” of judges.

Middle Schoolers learn basic principles of business and personal finance through

the “JA for a Day” program from Junior Achievement. Stock investment clubs track

the ebb and flow of the stock exchange and other investment options.

In Upper School, students may enroll in an array of entrepreneurship classes, including finance, business model design and international trade.

capstone

In the senior capstone year, students work in teams to conceptualize, test, revise and build actual business start-ups. They learn to collaborate as a team, and to listen first and foremost to the customer. Professional mentors guide the teams throughout the year to the culminating event: a formal Shark Tank event in front of the entire Upper School. Business professionals serve as “sharks” to whom the student teams present their business cases. The winning team receives $10,000 and mentoring to further develop their business after graduation.

Previous successful capstone ventures have included Kanga Trash and Energy Systems, which installs trash bags on arena and stadium foldup seats to provide advertising space and decrease cleanup costs and time, and Pearl Toothpaste, a tasty toothpaste tablet to make brushing more appealing to kids and less messy.

“We learned that no idea is a bad one, and to

not be afraid to change the idea or pivot to end

up in a successful place.” —James Barlia ’14

humanities and GloBal studies (hGs)

This program fosters an interconnected view of cultures and explores individual perspectives that make up those cultures.

Students focus on social studies, literature, language and the arts and select from a wide variety of interdisciplinary courses that develop and enrich their global competence.

proGramminG in all Grades

From early reading to project-based learning, Lower and Middle School students are taught to connect their studies to real world

events and people. Role-playing, skits and team projects bring book study to life and merge academics with the

challenges of our society here in the U.S. and around the world.

Middle and Upper School students enjoy opportunities for extra-curricular global

studies trips. Middle Schoolers may participate in trips to destinations including Canada, the Florida Keys and the Colorado Rockies to study the environment, history and culture. Upper School Global Studies trips combine travel with community service and learning in international

locations including Cambodia, France, South America, China and even Cuba.

The Upper School HGS program kicks off with the Honors American Humanities

Seminar in junior year. The class combines American literature and United States history and

students are prepared to take the AP U.S. History exam at the end of the year. In this team-taught double

period class, students examine the social, economic, political

and cultural heritage of the United States through a combination of primary documents, interpretive secondary sources and representative works of American literature and art. The course emphasizes close, critical analysis, responsible oral discourse and expository writing. Though the topics in this course are by design American, students train to become global thinkers.

In addition to the American Humanities seminar, students must complete additional coursework to earn the HGS Signature Program denotation: art history or AP art history, language study (successful completion of level four), one curriculum-based experiential learning opportunity (such as travel or an internship), extended community service initiatives and the senior capstone project. A Bullis public speaking course also provides valuable training for the capstone.

capstone

The senior year capstone requires students to work independently or in teams, online as well as in person, to design a year-long project that they shepherd from proposal to final presentation. Students defend their work before a panel comprised of teachers, administrators and mentors from their chosen field of interest. Throughout the year, students also elicit feedback from peers as well as adult mentors, and document their creative process via an e-portfolio. Students examine the following questions:

� How can I synthesize my humanities-based knowledge in an authentic product and experience?

� How can I pursue my passions/goals while keeping the scope of my project reasonable to deadlines that I have set for myself?

� How can I use the resources around me in an organized and thorough way?

The inaugural class of HGS capstone students proposed to work as one team to produce a documentary about the importance of microfinance and business education programs for women in struggling communities in the U.S. and abroad. Their capstone project resulted in a documentary, “Financing from the Ground Up,” which included interviews with industry experts, data and anecdotal evidence of the value of these programs.

“The HGS capstone was the perfect opportunity for me to

do something important with everything I learned in school.”

—Mollie Carroll ’15

stemSTEM encourages students to investigate real world

problems and design solutions through an inquiry-based approach. Students learn to ask, imagine, plan, create, present,

evaluate and improve as they engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to make a positive impact in their community.

Through the STEM curriculum, Bullis helps students think scientifically, explore design concepts, develop adaptability, problem-solve and pose productive questions. The program also fosters curiosity, develops research skills, celebrates innovation and demands resourcefulness.

Teachers reinforce the power of an idea to challenge students to learn more and try again, and in the process aim to incite

curiosity and inspiration.

Filled with a variety of machines and tools (including a 3D printer, laser cutter and more), our Maker Space

invites students to combine STEM with art and makes engineering, design and experimentation accessible and attainable. Here is where students investigate and discover their hidden entrepreneur, exploring light-hearted solutions to common problems or more substantive approaches to challenges in our world.

proGramminG in all Grades

Lower School STEM is taught by a designated teacher who integrates science, literacy, math and social studies

while developing critical thinking and cooperation. Students learn physical, life and earth sciences through

hands-on labs that require practiced observation, data

collection and analysis. Each unit engages students in the engineering design process and helps them see failure as necessary to achieving success.

The Middle School curriculum focuses on further STEM exploration, from college workshops to club offerings include rocketry, robotics and computing. Major/minor options in technology introduce students to Makey Makeys, Hummingbird robotic kits and 3-D design. The year-end project-based learning assignments in all Middle School grades include a STEM component which requires students to take a multidisciplinary approach to address real-world challenges for the environment, public health and even outer space.

Upper School STEM activities provide students new depths of experience both in and out of the classroom. Classes include Research Design and Methods, Sound Design and Programming, Decision Theory, Epidemiology, Marine Biology, Game Design, Mobile App Development and CAD.

Extracurricular offerings include a Robotics Team that has grown to 22 students and recently hosted a regional tournament attended by 30 other teams. Bullis is taking its rightful place as a STEM education innovator and leader.

capstone

Senior capstone students apply their acquired skills to see a project through from the beginning proposal to final presentation before a panel comprised of teachers, peers, administrators and mentors. Projects vary in scope and purpose, but each requires either carrying out an experiment or engineering design. Over the course of the year, students conduct background research, devise a project plan and develop prototypes or conduct experiments. They elicit feedback of peers and mentors and also write a professional journal article about the project.

Previous Capstone projects have included:

� Food & Fitness: What’s the Relationship? � Durable Chair Using Minimized Cardboard � Bullbots: 2014 FIRST Tech Challenge � Piezoelectric Tile: Energy Efficiency Creates a Green Future � Project ReFilter: finding a new and conservable source for drinking water � Building and Maintaining a Marine Ecosystem

“The STEM Capstone prepared me to keep reaching for a goal no matter how many attempts it takes to get there. Now I believe everyone can be successful if only they are FEARLESS.”

—Mei Li ’14

visual & performinG arts (vpa)The VPA Signature Program provides all students:

� a challenging, engaging, comprehensive and dynamic artistic experience which energizes student creativity

� development of artistic skill sets in a range of disciplines � exposure to a mixture of the masters of each discipline

along with contemporary working artists.

In addition, VPA provides the foundation for committed visual and performing arts students to deepen the experience and continue further beyond our program.

proGramminG in all Grades

Students in all grades explore art, dance, music and theater in age-appropriate activities that develop skills, knowledge and appreciation. The youngest students enjoy regular classes in all areas as well as special activities and guest teachers. Performances and art shows fill the calendar throughout the year and they enjoy using the same high-quality performance spaces and studios as the

oldest students.

Middle School students enjoy a range of courses and a broad set of artistic experiences. In 8th grade they may elect to

major or minor in arts-related courses of interest and participate in arts clubs or activities. The top-quality musical theater winter production engages scores of students, as do the fall and spring dance shows, and the year-round band, choir, string ensemble and jazz band programs.

By Upper School, students have an even wider range of VPA courses to select from in theater, theater tech, dance, music,

art and art history. Specialized courses include Contemporary Practices, which helps visual art students answer the common

art school question, “Who are you looking at?” Students learn to apply knowledge of art history and contemporary art to their own

process and take an in-depth approach to the ideation that will be

required for success in AP Studio Art, capstone courses and beyond.

Performing arts enthusiasts may opt for Audition Repertoire and Portfolio Preparation which provides a framework to develop a body of audition repertoire or a technical theatre portfolio. Students also become well-versed in auditioning and portfolio presentation for application to summer study opportunities, internships and college programs. A prerequisite to the VPA capstone, this class also helps students explore potential topics and areas of focus.

capstone

In the VPA senior capstone course, each student independently produces a serious body of work and explores in-depth areas of artistic interest. With the guidance of experienced artistic mentors, students enhance their artistic independence. Students perform, present and critique each other at biweekly salons, which helps students to refine their work and prepare for final presentations or performances.

Previous VPA capstone projects have included:

Joint Performance Project: A trio of students—one each in fashion design, dance and technical theatre —collaborated on an original dance piece featuring distinctive choreography, lighting and costuming.

Jazz Arrangement and Performance: Original student arrangements and reinterpretations of existing compositions designed for and performed by a student ensemble.

Visual Art: Media and approaches include fashion design, abstract painting, mixed media/collage, drawing, anime, sculpture and technology.

Musical Theatre: Development of an extensive audition and performance-ready body of musical theater repertoire and monologues in a range of styles.

Technical Theatre: Original set design and constructionfor several featured student productions. Creation of two significant original production soundscapes using both digital and traditional, acoustically-oriented Foley approaches.

“Through the capstone, I have grown significantly as a designer

in technical theater, and truly developed my own artistic voice.”

—Stephen Clement ’15

BULLIS SCHOOL10601 Falls RoadPotomac, Maryland 20854www.bullis.org | 301-299-8500