middle school
IDENTITY FORMATION + CORE SKILL BUILDING
Parker’s Middle School emphasizes social and emotional learning, positive adult-student relationships, and providing opportunities that help mobilize teenagers’ newly-developed metacognitive abilities.
Because of Parker, I am driven, confident, and have a relentless desire to learn. I’m not just a more compassionate person, but I also feel like I’m a contributing member of my community.
richness & rigor
Middle school students work hard — by the time they head off to high school, they will not only have completed 3 years of core curriculum, but are also expected to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language as well as a musical instrument. All of this learning is done in a nurturing environment where time-management skills, effective study habits, and self-advocacy are instilled in students beginning in Grade 6.
learning through reflection
There’s a trajectory you’ll notice as you follow students through their Grade 6, 7, and 8 portfolio presentations: that their experiences throughout Middle School are instructive because of their ability to reflect. By promoting reflective classrooms, our teachers ensure that students are fully engaged in the process of making meaning. Through reflective instruction, middle school students become producers, not just consumers, of their knowledge.
advisory & life skills
Advisory provides a space and time for students to build a relationship with at least one teacher that will help guide them through the school year and advocate for them as needed. Advisory also increases students’ sense of community, satisfies students’ need to belong to a group during crucial developmental years, provides a forum to discuss Character Education topics, and improves communication between the school and home.
Middle School also holds three Life Skills Weeks each year as a complement to our advisory programming. Curriculum involves a sharper focus on Social Emotional Learning including health and wellness, alcohol and drug awareness, healthy eating, human development, and stress management.
explore, adventure, discover
Three years of building core skills, developing community, and practicing reflection culminates in Discovery Week, when Grade 8 students travel to a diverse range of countries such as Costa Rica, China, Peru, Canada, and even the Galapagos Islands. During Discovery Week, students participate in programs that foster development of self-reliance and cultural awareness, enhance language skills and historical knowledge, and provide opportunities for students to make real-world connections to what they have studied.
Additional Resources
Meet Mr. Lang
Head of Middle School
What makes working with middle school students so great? "In the middle years students are capable of learning complex subjects such as algebra and Mandarin, balancing chemical equations, creating beauty through art and music, and exploring the human condition through historical and literary analysis," says Head of Middle School Dan Lang. "At the same time, they remain optimistic, joyful, and thankfully goofy."