Middle School

Grades 5 - 8

In the Middle School years, emotional and social development are inextricably entwined with intellectual development. We’ve designed our program around that understanding, allowing students the opportunity to build their academic skills, delve into interpersonal issues, engage in athletics, and express themselves creatively, all within the school day.

Academically, our teachers strive to capitalize on the students’ social and physical skills, and as a result our students learn in a wide variety of ways, including:

• engaging in mock simulations such as the Constitutional Convention
• writing short stories from personal childhood maps
• serving as “junior naturalists” to help first graders understand basic botany
• organizing their electronic work with shared OneNote notebooks
• digitally narrating in Spanish or French images they’ve taken of themselves going through the day’s routine
• interacting problem-by-problem with their Algebra teacher in DyKnow
• creating selfless self-portraits in CyberArts or acting out skits to explore character issues in drama
• showcasing their talents in the full-class 8th grade musical

To provide guidance in these years of significant personal transition, all students are assigned to a teacher advisor. Advisories meet briefly each morning for attendance and check in, but more importantly, spend extended time together weekly to investigate topics such as character, peer pressure, community service, and the Technology Awareness Campaign.

Bringing all advisories together, weekly assemblies provide divisional unity. There, students may see a traditional Columbian dance, hear about a teacher’s passion, share experiences during a community service day, or cheer peers on in a talent show.

Promoting physical development, sports are built into the school day, with a no-cut policy that allows each child to try his or her hand at the game of choice.