facultwist | Burnbriar AU Info

Burnbriar Academy is a small, private school on the East Coast of the United States with a student body of around 500 at maximum capacity. Like many similar schools, it prides itself on a history that traces back hundreds of years while not publicly discussing the less flattering parts of that history. Unlike many similar schools, however, Burnbriar has genuinely always been quick to adopt new technologies and techniques, a pillar of the school’s mission shaped by the fact that nearly the whole campus has burned down and been rebuilt twice.

What kinds of students attend Burnbriar?

While the traditional view of private boarding schools is definitely on the “rich girls only” side of things, and the hefty price tag on tuition does support this, Burnbriar offers a surprisingly generous volume of scholarship money to those with good grades, a talent for sports or the arts, or applying from other countries or unique situations. Basically, no matter the background you want for your character, their presence at the school can be arranged. However, of course, the school’s views on scholarship money might not align with the views of those students who are not here on scholarships, and scholarship students should keep in mind their need to be on their best behavior, lest the scholarships be revoked. …Unless it’s a sports scholarship, because this is still an American school, after all.

The result is a genuinely diverse student body with a surprising amount of respect given, at least from the faculty’s end, to the array of voices being heard.

What are accommodations on campus like?

Burnbriar has four main dorm halls that hold a maximum of a hundred students each, predominantly with rooms for two. South Hall is freshmen only, with roommate assignments being automatic and effectively random. Everyone has been through South Hall, and the odds are pretty good that it wasn’t the best experience - it’s a newer building, but it’s a little… prison-y. The rooms are on the smaller side, pretty much just two beds and a desk, to “foster friendship and connections!” East and West halls are a nicer experience, with the option to choose roommates and more sizable rooms that contain not just space for sleeping and working, but enough for a small couch and a TV or just some open space to relax in, especially if you convert the beds to bunk beds. North Hall is the cream of the crop, with each room not only containing even more room than East and West, but an enclosed balcony as well, though the weather isn’t always exactly conducive to using it extensively. With all the rooms being on the ground floor, there’s a sort of lack of privacy that might be a concern, but the balconies have a reputation as being a means to escape after hook-ups anyway, so… it all evens out? You’re probably not getting a room in North Hall unless you’re a senior anyway, so it all evens out.

At least the ground floor of each dorm is wheelchair/mobility aid accessible, though South Hall is the only option with more than one elevator. Students with cash to spend can pay to have cable television activated in their rooms, or gather in communal spaces on each floor to watch TV or movies with their fellows. Each dorm also contains a communal kitchen, laundry room, and a vending machine or two. North Hall has three vending machines because they’re special. Also, it’s worth noting that while the names of the halls do accurately represent their positions relative to each other, the dorms are actually all off to the west side of campus. On the East side of campus, past all of the classrooms and admin buildings, is Rosenblum Hall.

Rosenblum Hall is also technically a residence hall, but it’s mostly used for guest accommodation when speakers and alumni travel to the school. The fixtures and everything are much older - supposedly some of the rooms even still use gas lighting - but it’s not like students have reason to spend much time there anyway. Besides, have you heard the rumors about that place? It’s haunted as hell!

What classes does the school offer?

A list of most of the classes can be found here, but generally speaking students get a lot of freedom over which classes they choose and focus on. Each semester, students have six class slots - English, Math, History, and Science take up four of these by requirement (though Science and History slots are optional senior year), and History of Briarburn is a first semester requirement, but elective slots are a key part of the Burnbriar ethos. Other electives are offered on a rotating basis, so as to allow for students to know things that you want your character to know, within reason.

Languages offered include: Spanish, French, Latin, Chinese, Japanese, German, and Russian.

What else is on campus?

To the west of the dorms stands the central area of campus, containing the cafeteria, administrative building, Church of Saint Melangell, and Monroe Family Library. Sports facilities are located to the north, with classrooms and the Ingrid Monroe Performing Arts Complex to the south.

What’s in that central area?

The cafeteria is… not exactly modern, it’s actually very seventies, with a lot of kinda beaten-up wood paneling and a very ugly old carpet with a funky pattern on it. Renovating the place has been on the administration’s docket for a long time, but it keeps getting pushed back. The Snack Bar, however, has gotten a facelift sometime in the last fifty years, and looks much more modern by comparison. The main cafeteria serves a lot of American comfort food standards at standard mealtimes, with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available. The Snack Bar serves… well, snacks, mostly, but also some diner fare like burgers, chicken tenders, and fries. The grilled cheese is particularly good, if a little basic. For students’ convenience during the winter, enclosed paths track to this building from the dorms, including one to Rosenblum Hall just in case.

The administrative building is more than a little imposing, up on its own little hill. Done in a recreation of gothic manor architecture, unlike the more authentic spooky gothic manor of Rosenblum Hall, it is nonetheless not a place with the most straightforward Good Vibes. Fortunately, outside of Student Council, there’s not a lot that requires students to actually come here unless they get in trouble.

The Church of Saint Melangell, meanwhile, is a different story. A sort of small-scale cathedral, this historic building is mostly used for events and individual prayer since chapel attendance stopped being required of students back in the nineties. Technically, by denomination, the church is Catholic, but given the increased diversity in student religion over time, services are conducted for multiple religious groups in here over the course of each weekend. The rumors about catacombs underneath it are probably wrong.

The Monroe Family Library provides all the research materials any student could hope for, from general texts for general classes to a large section of specialized literature about the school and the local area. The first story is fiction, the second is nonfiction, and the third includes audiovisual materials and good ol’ microfiche. There’s a basement, too, but students aren’t allowed down there.

And those sports facilities to the north?

With no football team, there isn’t exactly a need for a full stadium, but there’s a wide field for activities and festivities, as well as an indoor complex featuring a gymnasium, exercise equipment, and even a pool! Can’t have a swim team or water polo team without a pool, after all. One single classroom sits above the gym for health class, and a practice room for the pep band is connected nearby.

How about to the south?

So! Down that way, you come across a bunch of classrooms of different stripes, roughly grouped into a few buildings by subject - the english and history building, the math and science building, the… electives and clubs building, and, bright and shiny (usually), the Ingrid Monroe Performing Arts Complex. Unlike many private schools that spend their cash on the sports programs, Burnbriar believes strongly in the tradition of theater: the complex features a traditional main stage, two black boxes, and an immersive modular space for more experimental productions. The black boxes and modular space are used for a rotating number of student-run productions and class recitals, while the main stage is used for the more traditional Fall, Winter, and Spring shows - usually a musical, a play, and another musical, respectively.

What’s around the school?

Burnbriar is located within the forest, just a short hike from the beach, but only a mile out from the nearby small town of Charity. Charity contains stores for shopping on weekends, restaurants for those who want to take the campus shuttle for a break from cafeteria food, and a number of lovely locals who are always thrilled to see Burnbriar students! … That’s what the PR says, anyway, there’s a little bit of an undercurrent there, especially when it comes to the working class of the town, of resentment towards the rich private school that serves as the main source of employment and income. Most of the citizenry has the decency to not take it out on the students, but it’s not exactly a perfectly invisible vibe.

Outside of the town, there are a number of trails around through the wilderness, both official and student-worn, to places like a nice creek or local scenic Lake Temperance, or to the old decrepit Witch’s House. … Or, you know, to the ironically named Chastity Rock, which the Puritans would have been very upset about on account of all the making out.

What’s the school year like?

The school year follows the standard American private school system schedule, beginning near the end of August and ending around the start of June. Students are expected to remain on campus unless accompanied by an adult at all times, with Thanksgiving, Winter, and Spring breaks being the main time when students leave to spend time with family.

Of course, this isn’t always viable, especially for students from abroad, so the school remains open during the breaks, and activities are arranged for the students during that time, especially Fall and Spring. Winter Break is a little different, as the staff is lighter for the season, so the remaining students are generally gathered up into one hall in temporary lodgings, with a staff member assigned to watch over them and arrange any activities that the group might want. While this is usually the guidance counselor, it’s likely to be the very first duty of the new guidance counselor this year! Hope they make the most of it!

And the week to week schedule?

Classes run from 9am to 3pm or so, since this school at least listened to the deluge of studies showing that teenagers need a late start to class a little bit, with sports before and after and clubs generally just after. Breakfast is served in the cafeteria from 6:00-8:45 am, lunch 12-1:30pm depending on schedule, and dinner 5:00-8:00pm. Classes are held Mon-Fri, with the exception of holidays, and students are encouraged to keep weekends for free time, socializing, and campus activities. Lights out is 10:30pm, 12:00am on the weekends - internet usage outside of that time should be done at the library for homework or otherwise with permission from a staff member. This is less strictly enforced around midterms or finals, naturally, but it’s not hard to get permission.

What’s the vibe on the student body?

Well, it ranges depending on the student, because there’s a strong emphasis on individuality anyway here, but generally whatever you are, there are kindred spirits to find somewhere in the student body. There’s rich mean girls, there’s artist weirdos, there’s bullying, there’s ways to avoid bullying… it’s pretty open how you can make your character slot in, basically! The school is less organized into cliques than it is into clubs, but obviously groups of friends can exist outside of clubs just as easily.

And as for subjects like homophobia or slutshaming or whatever, like… up to you if you want to engage with that, it’s not not here, just warn appropriately but like. Do keep in mind that this is a school full of Gen Z kids, not an actual period piece.

Any current in-universe trends to keep note of?

It’s 2023-2024, so like. K-Pop is big, Tiktok is available. You can reference or access any and all canons and brands other than what the student body is pulled from, the main thing is that the Covid-19 pandemic did not happen within the fiction of this world, so like. The state of casual sourdough baking is much less prominent. Twitter is a little less nonsensical, and is also still called Twitter because instead of getting radicalized, Elon Musk got really into new-age shit and is on some kind of extended holistic retreat. But don’t worry, we still hate him.

As far as specific campus things, there’s the standard sort of dumb rumors that would naturally spring up around Field Program assignments - foxes have a reputation for being sneaky, eagles have a rep as jocks, the hares have a reputation as uh. hit 2023 films - but the assignments are actually basically random, so it’s more of a self-fulfilling prophecy than anything else.Sneaking off into the woods to prove you’re cool is a long-standing tradition, and not just because of the one rock where people go to make out. The Witch’s House, a derelict old house with nothing much more supernatural than some spray-painted pentagrams, is a notable target of this sort of thing.

What kinds of rumors are there around the school?

Oh, so many. The most common one is hauntings - the church, the Witch’s House, and Rosenblum Hall are the most common targets of this, but most buildings apart from the most recent have been called haunted at least once. Rosenblum Hall is supposedly haunted by multiple members of the original family to reside on the campus, the library is haunted by the ghost of a student who totally died there, there’s a vengeful specter underneath the performing arts complex… okay, that last one was probably invented by bored theater kids in the 90s, but still.

Rumors about individual students, much like individual students themselves, I’m going to let y’all have fun with, but! There’s also rumors about the architect who was hired to rebuild the school a hundred years ago - to protect the school, he supposedly hired mediums and witches to ensure that the campus and its buildings were developed along “pre-existing leylines and points of spiritual power” - but that particular rumor is only really taken seriously beyond “the guy was a wacko” by like. Goths.

The town of Charity has a few historical points that there are rumors about - everyone says there were witch trials back in the day, hence the Witch’s House, but there’s no actual evidence that’s ever been found of them - the most prominent of which being that someone from the town actually started the fire that destroyed the campus the first time. It’s less a rumor and more of a fact, though, that a lot of the non-scholarship students look down on the people of the town. That’s classism, babey.

What are the clubs/activities like?

A basic list of extracurriculars can be found here, though extra clubs can be added as desired for au background purposes, especially if any characters would go through the effort to start a club themselves. Some clubs and activities of note, though…

A/V handles school announcements and films and edits promotional and news videos that play on the student news network, which has become an app in the last few years! Every school laptop and phone has it pre-installed.

E-Sports is only a club because the administration won’t recognize League of Legends as a sport. They have been trying to get letterman jackets for three years now.

HERstory is a feminist history club! It’s actually pretty positive! Please ignore the locally trending Tiktoks about how stupid the name is! Please?

H.O.R.S.E.S. is, in fact, the equestrian club. It stands for Hereafter Officially Recognized School Equestrian Society.

Speech and Debate four-time reigning state champs!

Spiritualism turns out, being a teenager with half of an understanding of wicca CAN be the basis for a club if you put aside your differences with the yoga kids!

Axe Throwing Yes, it’s a sport. Yes, it was started as a “lesbian club” back in the nineties. Multiple truths can coexist.

Apex is the school’s honor society! Buncha nerds in here, all dedicated to upholding the legacy of the school’s founders and also getting into fancy private colleges. If you want academic or professional connections, you could do a lot worse!

The Hare and Fox Society manages and supports the Field Program, organizing competitions between the Hares, Foxes, and Eagles. It’s a lot of work.

And finally, Skullbriar is uh. A very publicized “secret society” sort of thing, which is to say it’s a little passe, but the members spend a lot of time talking themselves up and uh. Throwing parties?

Okay, one last big question.

Yes?

What about the fifteen horses? I was promised fifteen horses.

So! The school owns ten horses, with the facilities to house and care for several others. If you want your character to have a horse, feel free to have them have brought one! But otherwise, the ten canon horses - Strawberry, Indigo, Tiny Dancer, Daria, Twilight Sparkle, Luxurious, Pagoda, Blaze, Razzamatazz, and Chuck - are doing fantastic in their stables to the north of campus, along with up to five NPC student horses! An automatic feeding and care system has been installed so that they are taken care of during the winter months, and so we don’t have to feel terrible for the horses before that area of the map opens up.

I have other questions!

If you have any questions about the setting that are not answered by this or the forthcoming FAQ, please leave them below!

Burnbriar AU Info

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