MIDDLE SCHOOL (GRADES 6-8)

Our middle school (Grades 6-8) transition between numerous educators for their core subjects, including Religion, English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.

READING

Vocabulary development, reading comprehension, and independent writing are critical to the program in the middle grades. Students will study literary works while building a diverse vocabulary, and building on their skill of reading comprehension. Also, students will learn to write for different purposes, such as argument writing, informative/explanatory and narrative writing. Students will produce a variety of projects, including book reports, essays, presentations, and other writing assignments. Research skills and formative writing will be used across the other content areas.

MATH

In the middle grades, Open Up Resources are used. Topics include ratios/proportional relationships, the number system, expressions/equations, geometry, statistics, and probability. This shift also focuses heavily on algebraic thinking, in preparation for high school mathematics. In both programs, the understanding and use of mathematical vocabulary is important, especially in the application of skills in mathematical questions, or explaining reasoning.

SCIENCE

Middle school science addresses and extends the learning in the areas of life science, physical science, and earth/space science. Students work to meet the learning outcomes in a guided inquiry format. Included in these sciences, integration of technology places a critical emphasis of the correlation of Math and Science. Programs include a variety of labs and introduction to entry robotics/programming.

SOCIAL STUDIES

In the middle school, Grade 6 students learn about life in the Ancient Civilizations. Grade 7 and 8 learn about the establishment and growth of the United States, through westward expansion to the present day. Elements of research writing are utilized to expand student knowledge and ability.

Similar to K-5, students in Grades 6-8 are instructed in enhancement classes. In alignment with our school’s mission, students focus on the Portuguese language as their foreign language studies.