6th Grade Experience

When students enter the Middle School in 6th Grade, much attention is paid to the major transition they are making from elementary school. Many are moving from classroom to classroom for the first time, with individual subject teachers instead of one or two homeroom teachers. Many, for the first time, are now responsible for signing themselves up for extracurricular opportunities, and many are self-dismissing and riding a bus with Upper School students. At the same time, many of the students are new to each other, as we blend students from both of our Lower Divisions with brand-new students from various settings.

To ease the transition, 6th Graders visit the Middle School for an orientation day before classes start to get to know the campus and each other. Each student is assigned a faculty advisor and an advisory group, and that group eats lunch together for the first two weeks of school. 

Sixth grade is about answering the question: “Who am I?”  

• Who am I as a student?

• Who am I as a learner?

• Who am I socially?

Our programs in 6th Grade reflect this:

• We take students on a two-night overnight trip early in the year, during which students can build deep connections and explore topics in science and environmental education that they will revisit later in the year.

• We introduce Community Conversations, a curriculum that uses SEED principles in order to build community through identity development with the goal of moving towards positive community change.

• We educate them about the use and overuse of technology, especially given that it is an age where many are more exposed to it and social media than before.

• We engage them in a capstone project spanning the year, in which they create their own profile as a learner. Ultimately, this project is presented to parents in their final conference.