Middle School

Our middle school students are engaged in content which is the basis of knowledge and understanding of our Catholic faith. Our students are drawn into a deeper communion with Christ in His Church. Through scripture readings, attending Mass, projects and class discussions, students are able to reflect spiritually and think both ethically and theologically when making decisions in their everyday lives. Our sixth grade is immersed in the history of the Catholic Church as they study the Old Testament. The seventh graders study Christ as man with focus on the New Testament. Our eighth graders delve into their Confirmation journey and receive a deeper understanding of the sacrament and its meaning. Students study and analyze the Beatitudes, Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit which they will receive at their Confirmation. They learn how to apply these gifts to situations they may encounter and how to live them so that they become the living Christ in the world around them.

English Language Arts builds skill sets in vocabulary and reading comprehension, grammar, writing, and public speaking. Students learn these essential skills while enjoying short stories, poetry, and the novel. Excitement builds, for instance, as we escape to the magical world of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and join Edmund in tasting the British delicacy, Turkish delight; learn survival skills while reading about Brian Robeson's plane crash and subsequent months enduring the Canadian wilderness in Hatchet; and search for the murderer aboard the Orient Express along with Agatha Christie's famed detective, Hercule Poirot. In the course of reading, students also learn personal narrative and expository writing, such as compare and contrast essays or news writing. Each novel study also involves character analysis projects, such as an "evidence wall" highlighting suspects of the murder aboard the Orient Express or "most wanted" posters featuring members of the Greasers and Socs gangs from The Outsiders.

Our math program offers accelerated math in 7th grade, which prepares our students for Algebra. Our 8th grade curriculum consists of pre-Algebra and Regents Algebra is offered to those students who qualify.

Our students participate in a "Math Bee " throughout the year and two winners have the opportunity to participate in the official Diocesan Math Bee at Kellenberg High School in May.

Our middle school is among 300-400 middle school teams on Long Island that participate in the stock market game where groups of students invest $100,000. In the past 5 years we have had 1st and 2nd place winners.

Our middle school science program at St. Patrick School is one that opens the mind of students to thinking outside the box as they prepare for life and work in the 21st century. Our sixth grade classes are introduced to a wide variety of topics in Earth, Life, and Physical Science that tie in with technology related careers. The seventh grade classes focus on Life Science that stresses topics in research and medical fields which hopefully, will make student's minds be open to possible careers in these fields. Our eighth grade science is a technology based Physics that stress STEM based topics. Science, technology, engineering and math will play a key role in the sustained growth of our country's economy and will create critical thinkers who will be the next generation of thinkers. All our classes work on science fair projects that allow for creative thinking and experimentation. Our eighth graders work on engineering projects including building roller coasters and bridge building which really gets the students excited. Our middle school science hopes to provide the steps to succeed in a new information based and highly technological society that needs open minded creative thinkers.

This rigorous program is taught 5-days per week by Sra. Salazar, who is a native speaker of the language. The program begins in 6th grade and continues through 8th grade. The curriculum taught is based on the checkpoints given by New York State and focuses on the 4-skills necessary to acquire a new language: Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing. The curriculum and intensity of work varies by grade. In addition, our students develop cross cultural-skills and understandings, which is done through many cultural projects, lessons, and tasks completed throughout the year.

The middle school social studies program focuses on the study of human society. It encompasses topics such as geography, anthropology, history, social economics, and civics. Our sixth graders start at the beginning, the Stone Age, and move along to the prominent ancient civilizations, the Middle Ages and end with the beginning of exploration. They take a trip to Medieval Times, write their names in cuneiform, mandarin, and create a model of one of the famous landmarks of either Egypt, China, or India. The seventh grade curriculum starts with exploration and continues through the American Revolution, the Civil War, government, and citizenship. The year ends with the reconstruction of America. They take a trip to the Civil War encampment and/or the Museum of Natural History. A favorite group project is building a 3-D map of the American Revolution and the territories which is now the United States. The eighth grade begins with industrialization and studies all of the wars; World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the wars in the Middle East. They enjoy the Roaring Twenties, research the Great Depression, and September 11, 2001. They learn the Charleston and fads of the "Roaring Twenties", take a trip to the Holocaust Museum, and create a model of trench warfare. Our curriculum goes as far as it can because history is never-ending.