Burgundy Farm Country Day School seeks a residential associate director for the Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies (BCWS). The Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies, now in its 58th year, is a 600-acre nature preserve and a vibrant environmental science learning center on the School’s mountain campus near Capon Bridge, West Virginia. The associate director must be a proven environmental educator, naturalist, and program leader with the ability to collaborate with teachers and staff to develop curriculum and deliver exciting, hands-on programs.

Summary

The Place

BCWS, or ‘Cooper’s Cove,’ has existed for nearly sixty years as both a wildlife preserve and a teaching facility. BCWS is tucked away on the site of a former farm and occupies over 600 acres of rolling hills and hollows. The Cove’s forest, meadows, and ponds shelter a wide diversity of plant and animal life and provide ample space for learning, exploration and play. The facilities are low profile and rustic. The timber-framed lodge houses a kitchen, office, infirmary, meeting space, dining and work porches, fireplace, and attached bathhouse. Nearby are screened-in bunkhouses. Close by to the Lodge are private dwellings for each of the directors.

The Mission

BCWS supports Burgundy’s progressive education model through hands-on, place-based science education. BCWS programming is spiraling, dynamic, and nurturing of children's innate curiosity and affinity for the natural world. School year visits knit curricula from the Alexandria school campus program to natural science and conservation themes. School programs serve grades one to eight, fall and spring. The residential summer camp nurtures in children and teens a greater knowledge, understanding, and respect for nature and self via direct, fun interactions with nature. Campers learn through studying science and by gaining experiences as part of a community. BCWS has been an incubator for generations of future scientists, teachers, and environmentalists.

Leadership and Responsibility

The BCWS Associate Director works alongside a second Associate Director and Director to oversee the entire BCWS facility, program, staffing, and finances. The Associate Director must be a naturalist with strong knowledge of science and passion for ecology and for teaching children in ways that engage children’s natural curiosity. School groups are assisted by teachers, many of whom have been coming to the Cove for many years, and parents who accompany the classes.

This is a year-round position, albeit with some quieter months. All full time BCWS staff (Director, both Associate Directors, and a Caretaker) are required to live on site April through November. (There is a rotation for time off.) The entire BCWS facility and program is supported by the Caretaker who maintains the facility, its infrastructure, and its many natural areas for learning.

Attached is a detailed but pared down job description.

To apply:

Please send a current resume and a letter of interest to [email protected].

Start date: Not later than July 1, 2025

Compensation Information

Salary will be approximately $77,500, partly dependent on experience, with competitive benefits and seasonal housing and board provided.