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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.

- Parker Senior

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.

 

Download the Middle School Curriculum Guide

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.

 

Parker in Practice | Middle School Portfolios

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.

 

Parker in Practice | Community Engagement in Middle School

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.

 

Parker in Practice | The Lasting Lessons of Discovery Week

Additional Resources

Middle School Curriculum Guide (PDF)
Character Education
Academic Support
Diversity and Inclusion
Health & Wellness

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."

Read more from Mr. Lang

join the Parker family

INQUIRE TODAY

Francis Parker School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school for students in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12 from across San Diego County. Parker's mission is to inspire a diverse community of independent thinkers whose academic excellence, global perspective and strength of character prepare them to make a meaningful difference in the world.

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Non-Discrimination Statement

Francis Parker School values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty, and staff from different backgrounds. All employment decisions are made without regard to unlawful considerations of race, color, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, creed, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law.  

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