Middle School

 

Philosophy

Middle School students naturally begin to yearn for greater independence, pushing boundaries while still relying on them to feel safe and cared for. Our task, as educators, is to provide the structure, challenge, and support they need to grow into happy, healthy, responsible young adults who will contribute to their school and the larger community.

To answer this charge, we push boundaries with them, encouraging students to thoughtfully engage in a host of academic areas, from health and humanities to mathematics and music. We develop the body through through physical activity, from yoga to outdoor education to interscholastic sports. And we inspire the spirit, offering guidance through close relationships with faculty advisors as we encourage individual development, and a safety net, should they falter.

This safety net arrives in the form of an advisor, assigned to each student, as well as an advisory group. The advisor serves as a guide, helping the student negotiate both the academic program and the school’s social experiences. Each child is also part of an advisory group that meets formally three times a week in a dedicated advisory period, as well as during a daily Conference Period, a time during which students may work on homework, meet with other academic subject teachers to discuss ongoing and upcoming work, or work on group projects. Integral to Pingry life, Conference Period is a way in which advisors guide the maturation of strong study habits and time management skills.

A collaborative approach to teaching and learning, one in which we guide each student’s journey to meaningful self-discovery while providing fun, creative opportunities for personal, social, and academic growth—this principle is central to Pingry’s Middle School program.

Curriculum

Our Middle School curriculum serves a dual role: conveying important information while guiding students' critical thinking skills from simple memorization to more thoughtful, independent analysis. Our faculty challenges students to support their opinions with facts and to question the world around them, readying them for success in the Upper School.

Our curriculum supports the liberal arts background that Pingry believes to be an integral part of each student's educational foundation. Students take courses in English, history, science, math, and world languages including Spanish, French, German, Latin, and Mandarin Chinese. Remembering that students are at different stages in their development, our math and world language classes are grouped by student ability. And because our students are on a campus that spans Grade 6 to Form VI (Grade 12), they can be challenged according to their level of readiness. Our Middle School curriculum is appropriately challenging, and for those students demonstrating greater aptitude, we can encourage them to take courses beyond the walls of the Park B. Smith ‘50 Middle School.

In Grade 6 and Form I (Grade 7), all students take drama, art, and performance music, and in music, they may choose from among band, string ensemble, and chorus. Form II students (Grade 8) can select an elective for two of the three trimesters. The entire Middle School participates in a four-day activity block that exposes students to a variety of ways to be physically active and part of a team experience. We maintain a “no-cut” policy in Middle School sports, so students have the chance to participate in a team sports experience regardless of their ability level.

At the end of this three-year period, students move on to the adjacent Upper School, armed with the confidence and critical thinking skills needed to realize success in a familiar, yet challenging environment.

Sample Course Offerings:

• Computer Science 8: A hands-on, trimester course that exposes students to both the technical and creative aspects of computer science.
• Digital Filmmaking: An introductory course in fundamental filming techniques and the basics of editing on “iMovie” and “Adobe Premier” software that sets students up for communicating in the 21st century through serious art or shared experiences.
• Percussion Ensemble: Students will play anything they can strike, scrape, or slap. Students get the chance to immerse themselves in and perform many different genres of music, including jazz-fusion, rock, Latin, and classical.