Our Private Independent Middle School

English – Students focus on strengthening skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. They read a handful of novels, myths, fables, short stories, and poetry. In writing, the process and traits of good writing are practiced throughout the year. Spelling strategies and grammar lessons are taught in the context of the students' reading and writing to help them recognize patterns, rules, and exceptions to the rule.

Math – Students start the year by reviewing past concepts and then moving into numeration and place value. Students will then work through multiplication/division, properties, and the relationship between multiplication and division. The year will end with the study of geometry and measurement as they relate two-dimensional shapes to three-dimensional shapes.  Students are exposed to a variety of logic puzzles, such as, Ken-Kens, Who Done it?, and Suduko, to help build problem-solving skills. Students are also given time to explore many hands-on manipulatives, such as tangrams and pentominoes, to further build problem-solving skills.

Science – Students are exposed to a variety of life, earth and space, and physical sciences to build a foundation of general science knowledge. The major units of study are microscopes and microorganisms, oceanography, chemistry, forces and motion, and climate change. 

Social Studies – Students study world history, world geography, and current events emphasizing content and skill. They undertake a survey course of world history with an emphasis on Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages. 

Art - Emphasis is placed on media exploration, skill development, and creative interpretation. Activities and assignments focus on the elements of line, shape, and color. Students explore two and three-dimensional art using a variety of media and techniques, including sketching, drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, sculpture, and ceramics.  Students learn about puppet history, puppet design, character development, and sing a song or poem in class with their puppets. They re-use laptop boxes, papier-mâché techniques, and acrylic paints to create unique puppet sculptures. The students, also, explore screen printing and the world of silhouettes and stencils to make printed t-shirts. 

Band – Students are introduced to musical notation and concepts through the introduction of an instrument. Students will choose an instrument as their focus - flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone, snare drum, mallet percussion, or bass guitar. Other instruments can be approved to play in the band through discussion with the band director. The class works through a methods book that introduces skill and notation sequentially. Students are expected to practice fifteen to twenty minutes a day to maintain skills learned during the class, along with other formally assigned recording assignments.

Choir – Students learn and begin to develop elements of vocal technique, such as, controlled breathing, phonation, resonance, and matching pitch. They will begin to read common musical notation in the fifth-grade repertoire and engage in active listening by learning to sing and identify songs through steps or small intervals. Students are expected to practice singing exercises and music using proper posture and technique at least fifteen to twenty minutes a day in addition to the students’ formal recording homework assignments. 

Library Skills - Students focus on learning how information is organized, how to access it via print and web based resources, and how to ethically use it. Considerable time is spent learning about their new computers, including computer care and use, reviewing the school’s Acceptable Use Policy, and using OneNote, Outlook, OneDrive, and other programs installed on their machines.

Litquest - Through read-alouds, students are exposed to two award-winning novels (one is fantasy and one is realistic fiction) to explore the elements of a novel: setting, plot, theme, point of view, characters, and figurative language. They are given opportunities to creatively re-tell stories through dramatic exercises, as well as, original artwork paired with written reflections. 

Physical Education/Swimming – Students are provided a variety of challenging, stimulation activities that promote social interaction and the improvement of self-concepts, cooperation, teamwork, sportsmanship, fitness, skill development, healthy lifestyles choices, and the acquisition of fundamentals through conceptual learning.

Student Skills - Students explore different strategies of organization, time management, test preparation, and more to discover what works best for them as a student. Not only will students find new ways to study, but they will discover ways they can be effective and efficient students.

World Language – Modern language focuses on sentence building, structure, and understanding through the continued use of TPRS (Total Physical Response Storytelling). Lessons target communication most relevant to young students from making introductions, to talking about themselves, their family, and friends, and their likes and dislikes. Students use their developing skills in written and spoken projects and in classroom games and conversation. They use a workbook to help enhance communication. The book in French is “Raconte-moi!” and in Spanish is “¡Cuéntame!”. They continue to work to master proper pronunciation and to increase their understanding of Spanish or French culture and, with the use of “Personal Questions and Answers”, students learn to communicate more about themselves and with classmates. Homework becomes increasingly important. Students are expected to practice daily and complete regular written work.

English – Students read several novels and a variety of short stories, poems, and folktales. A Writing Workshop environment encourages all types of writing, as well as pre-writing and revision. Foreshadowing, symbolism and interdependence are recurring themes throughout the year.

Math – PRE-ALGEBRA is designed to teach and strengthen the fundamentals necessary to move into algebra. Students learn mastery of integer operations, rates, ratios, proportions and percent’s, both with computations and applications.

Science – Students will cover the relationships among the Earth, moon, and sun. Human and geologic time scales are studied before the formation and layering of the Earth, continental drift and plate tectonics. In the second semester students learn about the formation and composition of rocks, minerals, soil and the chemical makeup, movement and pollution of water.

Social Studies – Students will focus on three regions of the world: Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia. The goal of this course is to develop a greater understanding of the earth’s physical features, world cultures and global issues. Through cooperative teaming and group projects, students strengthen social and communication skills while gaining knowledge of the world around them.

Art – Students work on drawing skills, using light and shadow with mixed media in their sketchbooks. The students learn about monochromatic art, are introduced to OP art and study the work of Keith Haring.

Band – Students are introduced to musical notation and instruments traditional to the Wind Band genre. The class works through a Methods book that introduces skill and notion sequentially.

Choir – Students learn and begin to develop elements of vocal technique, such as controlled breathing, phonation, resonance and matching pitch. They will begin to read common musical notation in the fifth-grade repertoire and engage in active listening by learning to sign and identify songs through steps or small intervals.

Drama - Students will gain poise, posture, confidence and the ability to creatively express feelings through dramatic exercises, public speaking and acting in a one act play. This course will help to develop imagination, creativity, critical thinking skills, while building cooperation and teamwork, fostering self-esteem and enhancing cultural literacy. 

Outdoor Education – Outdoor Education thrives in the Middle School with students primed to engage with their peers and campus through hands-on, real world experiences. The curriculum is student-centered with an emphasis on environmental education. It promotes teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Some projects include wilderness survival challenges, camping know-how, farm animal care, and native habitat restoration.

Physical Education – Students are provided a variety of challenging, stimulation activities that promote social interaction and the improvement of self-concepts, cooperation, teamwork, sportsmanship, fitness, skill development, healthy lifestyles choices, and the acquisition of fundamentals through conceptual learning.

Real Life 2.0 – Real Life 2.0 stands for Relationships and Emotions in Adolescent Learning.  Our focus is social and emotional learning using the CASEL philosophy.

We work on understanding ourselves, our peers, and the world around use. We are creating a “toolkit” of life skills for healthy self-care and relationship building strategies.

STEAM - In the STEAM elective for 6th grade, the focus is on Computational thinking and Design thinking via hands on projects that combine Programming, Electronics, robots and Making. We want to expose and inspire all students to these essential skills and provide a solid base for those students inclined to take advanced courses in the Upper School. Students are given design challenges to Ideate, prototype and iterate solutions.

World Language – Students are introduced to and implement conversational French and Spanish vocabulary and phrases. These courses teach introductory grammatical structures and focus on the four communicative language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Algebra –Algebra is a two-year program which is started in 7th grade.  Students will learn mastery of integer operations, rates, ratios, proportions and percent’s, both with computations and applications.

Culture Studies – They will come to understand culture by studying representative world cultures of the past and present: ancient and modern China, the cultures of the African continent, the past and present Native Americans and the current culture of American teenagers.

English – Students write and read extensively, strengthening their core grammar skills through weekly exercises and develop the ability to reason clearly and abstractly.  The class will partner with the Culture Studies course on select novels.  The class reads the following books: The Giver, Bronx Masquerade, Life of Pi, A Long Walk to Water, Bound, and Hatchet.

Science – Students will begin the year with a focus on scientific methods, measurements, classification and characteristics of living things. As the year progresses, students use physical, conceptual and numerical models to investigate three unifying theories in biology: all living things are made of cells, nearly all living things pass traits to the next generation through DNA and populations of living things change over time through the process of evolution.

World Language – Students in French, Spanish and Chinese with emphasis on grammatical structures, verb conjugation, reading, writing and oral expression. Students develop their oral skills through activities such as dialogues, show and tell, weather forecasting, ordering food in restaurants and describing people and places. Introductory Chinese is also an option for grade 7 students.

Health – At the core of 7th grade health is a decision-making model that students practice after each lesson.  The model prompts students to preview possible outcomes, consider their values, and reflect on their choices to be more prepared for future decisions.  Students practice using this model as they explore overall wellness through topics such as nutrition, sleep, exercise, emotions, stress, mental health, addiction, and human sexuality.

Art- Students work on drawing skills using light and shadow with mixed media in their sketchbooks. The students learn about one-point and two-point perspective using graphite, water color, and colored pencils.

Athletics – Students fulfill their physical education through participation in team sports. Students choose one sport each season.  All team members are given the opportunity to participate in interscholastic contest.

Band – Seventh grade band is a continuation from sixth grade band. Instrumental lines are more diverse; students become independent in their knowledge of their own musical line. Students learn more about their instruments or switch to a bigger, similar instrument. For instance, an Alto Saxophone player might switch to Baritone or Tenor Saxophone. A Trumpet player could switch to Baritone or Tuba. This allows the band to explore a more common and balanced band sound with a treble line, alto line, tenor line, and bass line. Different instrument learn new technique and notes. Trumpets learn up to a high F or G. Flutes learn notes above the staff, including High F. Clarinets learn more notes above the break, above C5. Alto Saxophones learn more alternate and chromatic notation. Trombone players learn up to middle C to D4. Percussionists learn different auxiliary percussion, including Tom Tom, conga, bongo, Agogo bells, Cabasa, shaker, Shakere, tambourine, triangle, mark tree, timpani, and gong. Each of these instruments has their own playing technique.

Outdoor Education – Outdoor Education thrives in the Middle School with students primed to engage with their peers and campus through hands-on, real world experiences. The curriculum is student-centered with an emphasis on environmental education. It promotes teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Some projects include wilderness survival challenges, camping know-how, farm animal care, and native habitat restoration.

Tech Theatre - This course is an exploration into the world of Technical Theatre. Students will be exposed to power tools, hand tools, lights, lighting boards, microphones, mixers, speakers, the sound board, fly rail, stage management techniques, properties design, basic painting and basic costume, hair, and makeup techniques. Students will be expected to demonstrate not only a knowledge of these tools, but also to demonstrate a practical knowledge with these areas. Technical Theatre will incorporate academic study and hands-on application of knowledge and skills.

Vocal – Seventh grade vocal builds vocal skills from the previous year. Students have a voice change at the end of sixth grade year and all through seventh grade, so we really focus on pitch matching, phonation, vocalise, "raising" the soft palette. Students learn about chest voice, mixed voice, and head voice and how to engage in each voice. Students learn to use breath and resonator to control their overall sound. This year is also a more in depth look into musicals both contemporary and classical. Students sing in three-part harmony as Soprano, Alto, and Baritone and sing in more complicated intervals, including fourths and fifths. Students will research and present information on different Rogers and Hammerstein musicals as well as performing a brief scene and song from the musical.

Algebra – Students at CCDS experience a Calculus based math curriculum. Students in the Middle School prepare to take Calculus or Pre-Calculus by the end of their senior year.

In 8th grade, most students finish their study of Algebra I, including working with polynomials, solving and graphing linear, exponential, quadratic, radical and rational equations and learning right triangle trigonometry. The curriculum also covers topics in geometry, probability and statistics, and Algebra II. Students experience a financial component of the curriculum by participating in The Budget Challenge, a simulation that increases financial literacy and teaches students the importance of paying bills on time, saving for retirement in a 401K, and wisely managing a credit card. The students participate in the Stock Market Game and learn how to invest in the Stock Market for short term and long-term gain.

English - Students develop the analytic, deductive, and expository skills necessary to read, think, write, and speak effectively about shared texts. The course uses poetry, short stories, novels, a Shakespeare play, Greek myths, excerpts from sacred texts and research sources as the vehicles for discussion and writing.

History – Eighth grade history is an introductory course to US History which will begin with an introduction to our nation’s founding ideals and government structure to give students a working framework for the year. The course will explore defining moments and movements in American History that have helped evolve the nation we have become. In the first semester, we will focus on three major areas of study: 1) Contact and Colonization, 2) American Revolution and Constitution and 3) Civil War and Reconstruction. During the second semester, we will follow three themes in our study of modern American history: 1) America Abroad 2) American Economic and Political Systems, and 3) American Citizenship.

Science – Students will study weather, physics, and chemistry. In weather, they learn how atmospheric pressure changes the weather, how to read and predict weather, and learn how thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes develop. In physics, students will study the metric system, apply the metric system to speed, velocity, and acceleration, and learn about energy, with electricity being a main focus. In chemistry, students learn about matter, the periodic table, acids and bases and how they react with one another, bonding of elements, and balancing chemical equations. 

World Language – Chinese, French and Spanish students continue learning vocabulary and grammar, which will be integrated with the appreciation of countries and cultures from around the world through oral presentations and web page creations. Students continue developing foreign language proficiency.

Art – Studio Art 8 students continued to work on drawing skills using light and shadow with mixed media in their sketchbooks. The students will learn about the legend of the Green Man and create masks with paper maché techniques, cardboard, and acrylic paint. Techniques in blending colors in paints and color families will enhance the mask making project. The students will also use mixed media to create an assignment piece they enlarged using grids. This is an opportunity for self-expression and a chance to use different media on one project. Studio Art 8 students will work on color theory and the color wheel using oil pastels. In a portrait unit, the students will draw various stylized faces in their sketchbooks and chose one for a final project. Each student then creates a stylized face blending warm and cool colors in oil pastels. The 8th grade students will also study printmaking with the technique of collagraph boards using cardboard and found object to create prints.

Athletics – Students fulfill their physical education through participation in team sports. Students choose one sport each season. All team members are given the opportunity to participate in interscholastic contest.

Band - Eighth grade band is a continuation from skills built during seventh grade band, and students should have a basic knowledge of a concert band instrument and music theory. All students in the first semester are involved in a musical, either in the cast, pit orchestra, or crew as well as a variety show. At the conclusion of the musical, the ensemble continues playing a variety of repertoire at the intermediate level, building the ensemble's skill level and control in the elements of music--pitch, rhythm, timbre, texture, form, and expression.

Musical – All 8th grade students will participate in a musical performance in the spring.  Students can choose to be part of the cast or crew or even both.  Past musicals: Guys and Dolls Jr, Once Upon a Mattress, Lion King Jr and Shrek Jr.   

Tech Theatre - This course is an exploration into the world of Technical Theatre. Students will be exposed to power tools, hand tools, lights, lighting boards, microphones, mixers, speakers, the sound board, fly rail, stage management techniques, properties design, basic painting and basic costume, hair, and makeup techniques. Students will be expected to demonstrate not only a knowledge of these tools, but also to demonstrate a practical knowledge with these areas. Technical Theatre will incorporate academic study and hands-on application of knowledge and skills.

Outdoor Education – Outdoor Education thrives in the Middle School with students primed to engage with their peers and campus through hands-on, real world experiences. The curriculum is student-centered with an emphasis on environmental education. It promotes teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Some projects include wilderness survival challenges, camping know-how, farm animal care, and native habitat restoration.

Vocal - Eighth grade choir is a continuation from seventh grade choir. This ensemble helps students to improve and further develop individual and choral singing, including but not limited to: pitch, intonation, scales, vocal blend, tone quality, diction, music literacy, sight-singing, and musicality. Eighth grade students are involved in a musical, a showcase, and concert, further granting opportunities for solos, acting, dancing, and singing.