Middle School

Students focus on discovering common themes among different literary works, making connections between literature read in class and our society today. Students are guided through the writing process and develop skills for communicating effectively.

In 7th grade, students examine themes of identity. They are encouraged to discover their own voices through writing assignments and projects. Students gain understanding of how storytelling shapes people’s personal and collective histories. 8th grade focuses on character development, symbolism, themes, and other literary devices. Students read fiction and nonfiction, and are guided through notetaking, annotating text, and responding to literature throughout the writing process. Students think about main ideas, sentence structure, paragraph formation, and inference topics.

In 7th grade history, students study the early ages of human history through the dawn of modern civilization. Students begin in the pre-historic era with a look at human origins, examining with an “archaeologist’s eye view,” how humans migrated around the world and built societies.

They explore the world’s first civilizations that developed in Egypt, the Middle East, India and China, concluding with an exploration of the classical societies of Greece and Rome. 8th grade history focuses on U.S. history, beginning with the establishment of the original thirteen colonies through the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. Students will examine the different movements and revolutions before the Civil War and their impact on the nation. Finally, they will study the causes and events leading up to the war, its importance, and the significance of Reconstruction.

Students will improve their understanding of operations, data and graphs, patterns and variables, number theory and fractions, ratios, rates, percentages, numerical equivalency, equations and inequalities, geometry, integers, probability, and data analysis.

In 7th grade math reinforces middle school problem-solving concepts such as ratios and proportional analyses, operations with fractions, equivalency, geometry, and statistics while introducing the foundations of algebra. 8th grade math provides preparation for Algebra 1.

Learners encounter the fundamentals of Algebra through middle school math concepts such as integers, rational numbers, the coordinate plane, proportionality, percentages, equations and inequalities, geometry, measurement, and statistics. Students learn the fundamentals of parent functions while improving numeric reasoning, cooperative learning, and real-world problem-solving methods.

In 6th grade, students explore Earth Science, delving into geology, meteorology, astronomy, and environmental science, learning about Earth's dynamic processes and celestial phenomena.

In 7th grade, the focus shifts to life science, where students study genetics, human biology, and the diversity of living organisms through hands-on activities and investigations. In 8th grade, students dive into physics and chemistry, exploring the properties of matter, laws of motion, energy transformations, and atoms, building a solid foundation for future scientific studies. Throughout all grades, we emphasize the development of scientific literacy skills.

Our students learn to read and interpret scientific articles, analyze graphs, and use evidence-based reasoning to draw conclusions. These essential skills prepare them not only for academic success but also for informed citizenship in a world increasingly shaped by science and technology. Middle School students will also have the opportunity to integrate these scientific concepts with math skills in their STEAM class each week.

Targeted instruction for writing skills includes learning sentence level skills like incorporating conjunction words, appositives, combining and expanding sentences.

Students will learn skills and strategies to enhance their written expression guided by methods from The Writing Revolution (Hochman, Wexler 2017). In 7th grade, students master the concepts of key words and phrases, abbreviations, and symbols when annotating text, while also building on their sentence expansion skills.

While mastering their sentence skills, students learn how to effectively use the SPO (Single Paragraph Outline) to plan and organize their writing for different text structures. As a skills-based class, students will become stronger readers and writers through the examination of expository texts. In 8th grade, students prepare for high school using a variety of strategies starting at the sentence level and working toward multiple paragraph written compositions. Students master the concepts of key words and phrases, abbreviations, and symbols when annotating text, while also building on their sentence expansion skills to apply to written compositions.

The programs include digital songwriting, choreography, dance performances, theater games, dramatic writing exercises, and dramatic scene work. All middle schoolers can perform in various school-wide events, including The Halloween Dance, and are free to audition for any middle or upper school performing arts productions.

Middle school art introduces the basic language of two-dimensional design through the mediums of drawing, painting and collage. The goal is to have a foundation level understanding of elements of design with assignments based on line, shape and mass, space, texture, color, harmony and variety, balance and rhythm, proportion and scale as well as composition.

The second year of this class builds on elements of two dimensional design allowing students to become comfortable using watercolor and developing composition. Perspective is also visited as students work from observation of life including the human form and use references to complete a variety of assignments.

Have you ever wondered how we built the Brooklyn Bridge, sent a human to the moon, or how your Bluetooth speaker connects to your phone? Our Middle school STEAM class allows students to apply the skills learned in their math and science coursework to hands on projects and exploration. Students will learn basic coding skills, the fundamentals of electrical and mechanical engineering and walk through the design process.

You will have the opportunity to use the skills learned in class to communicate and develop proficiency in conversation,communication and basic storytelling by vocabulary building, grammatical structures, and conversational proficiency. In-depth studies on culture, beliefs and history are explored through readings, lectures, projects, field trips and guest speakers.