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Branson School News, Sports, Life and Opinion

The Blazer

Branson’s student-run newspaper
Branson School News, Sports, Life and Opinion

The Blazer

Branson School News, Sports, Life and Opinion

The Blazer

News

Mandarin students walk with Chinese dragon puppet during Lunar New Year performance.

Branson celebrates Lunar New Year

By Riley Gu February 14, 2025
Lion dancing, dragon dancing and a panda were crowd-pleasers at the annual Lunar New Year assembly performance, put on by all of the Mandarin classes.

Branson community feels the energy at Gospel Night

By Ella Rubenstein February 14, 2025

On Thursday night, Feb. 13, Gospel Night was hosted, for the first time ever, at an off-campus venue, Dominican University in San Rafael. For the past three years, the Branson community has overflowed...

Technical Theater Director DiAnn Montemayor gets lunch from the
Commons.

Branson partners with new food service

By Skylar Lariviere February 14, 2025

As Branson students returned from winter break in January, it didn’t only mark a new year; it also meant a new food service. The Branson community officially transitioned to Thomas Cuisine as their...

Class of ’26 junior fellowships announced

By Isabel Little February 14, 2025

During assembly on Monday, Jan. 27, the junior fellowship recipients of the Class of 2026 were announced. After an extensive and thorough review process of anonymous applications and in-person interviews,...

Branson students in the Commons hear from special guest speaker Melba Beals. Beals was a member of the Little Rock Nine and joined Branson for Beloved Community day to share her incredible experiences.

Little Rock Nine’s Melba Beals visits on Beloved Community day

By Olivia Ritter February 1, 2025
Melba Beals joined Branson Jan. 16 for Beloved Community day to share her experiences racially integrating her high school and the violence she faced.

Students lead conferences, reflect on first-semester growth

By Cecelia Sharp February 1, 2025

On Jan. 21, Branson students led conferences with their mentors, advisers and guardians. Extending the already three-day weekend with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the student conferences occurred during...

The Branson Singers carol during the Winter Arts Festival.

Community gathers for Winter Arts Festival

By Samara "Sam" Lehman December 19, 2024
The Branson community gathered on Dec. 9 for the beloved annual Tree Lighting and Winter Arts Festival. 
Commons cleanup advocate Jeff Symonds calls out students who fail to clean up during lunch. Symonds and other faculty have taken turns sitting in the newly implemented lifeguard chair to supervise the commons at lunch.

Commons’ uncleanliness takes dessert and threatens wing day

By Cecilia "CC" Brenner December 19, 2024

Described as “the hill I’m gonna die on,” “one of the biggest bees in my bonnet” and “my albatross” by Branson faculty, commons cleanliness is a topic of strong tension between students and...

Spanish teacher Donatella D'Aguanno and Carl Smith '26 speak about language classes at Branson. The new format of open houses for prospective families highlights teacher-student collaboration at Branson.

Branson introduces new open house format

By Isabel Little December 19, 2024

For the first time since the pandemic, Branson has changed the format of the presentations prospective parents receive at admissions open houses. The format has moved from teacher-specific presentations...

Students collaborate during peer tutoring office hours. Peer tutoring office hours after school are a new addition, alongside a student-created app that pairs students with peer tutors.

New app streamlines peer tutoring pairing process

By Will Zuercher December 19, 2024

The addition of the student-created Branson peer tutoring app on campus this year provides students with an efficient and reliable method of getting academic assistance from their classmates across subjects. “The...

Classroom phone caddy, known familiarly as the "phone jail," holds students' phones during class. Currently, each teacher is responsible for their individual classroom phone policies.

Task force set to design schoolwide phone policy

By Gigi Hohenrieder October 22, 2024
Branson has made efforts to address the growing issue of phone usage on campus, beginning with a student-and-faculty task force.
Students participate in bonding activities and discussions on leadership during August retreat. The Student Leadership Institute was established by Whitney Livermore and JuanCarlos Arauz to orient leaders of student senate and affinity groups for the school year ahead. (Courtesy of Whitney Livermore)

Branson inaugurates Student Leadership Institute

By Alexa Warrin October 22, 2024
Student leaders convened in August for a two-day retreat, where they bonded, learned about leadership and constructed plans for the school year.
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