Middle School

Middle School is a good time to meet with us to understand what you can do now to create a positive high school experience for your student. We have many suggestions we would love to share with you based on our own experience with our own students. Many people do not realize that even in middle school you should make sure your student is on track for college. Middle school is an excellent time to start your student moving towards academic excellence and achievement. It is also a good time to explore interests and get involved in extracurricular activities and the community. When you apply to college, you want to make sure that you meet the admission criteria for all colleges in which you are interested, and you can get started in Middle School.

Academic Achievement

1. Advanced coursework: Some school districts offer accelerated programs for middle school. We highly recommend participating in these programs if they are available in your school district. This can make a big difference in your student's high school readiness but most importantly it affects how they view themselves as students. This view of themselves as smart and academic will continue to pay off in success throughout high school.
2. Being on track: The accelerated coursework they take in middle school may also put them on track to take accelerated courses in high school even as freshmen. It may be possible to start an 10th Grade curriculum in 9th grade.
3. Find help if needed or get ahead in coursework. If you see your student struggling with a certain subject in middle school, arrange extra help in that area for your student. This is a great time to do these things that will help set them up for success in high school.

Extracurricular Activities and Community Involvement

1. The middle school years are an ideal time for students to explore extracurricular interests, which may include athletics, the arts, science projects/fairs, student government, school publications, academic projects, religious or civic groups, or community service. This is a good time to find and strengthen interests.
2. Find your passion and keep pursuing it. When students discover activities that interest them, they should find more ways to develop those interests. For example, students who like animals might channel that interest into starting their own pet sitting business, interning in a pet store, with a veterinarian, or at a zoo or aquarium. They also could take courses related to their interest in animals, such as biology, anatomy and physiology, and zoology. They could do research with a local veterinarian or group and select related topics for research papers, art assignments, and science projects. They could find ways to serve their community through their interest in animals: they could train seeing eye dogs, volunteer in an animal shelter, be a docent in a zoo or at beach habitat. In this way, extracurricular interests can compliment and strengthen academic work.
3. Keep track: Like their academic portfolio, students in middle school should maintain a record of all extracurricular activities.