Middle School (6th-8th)

By actively meeting the developmental needs of early adolescents in grades six to eight. The Middle School program allows students to grow into themselves - academically, physically, artistically and spiritually.

The Middle School's traditional structure is designed to prepare students for academically rigorous high schools. A stimulating curriculum engages young minds by developing sound study skills and creating inquisitive habits of mind. Technology is integrated in all areas. The Middle School is committed to the development of the whole child. Students are encouraged to be physically fit through P.E. classes and athletic programs. The fine arts are emphasized through co-curricular classes and a variety of music, art and drama activities. Spirituality is addressed with religion classes and weekly chapels, often involving the Student Vestry.

Experienced, committed Middle School educators who care about each student and respect individual differences, have specific goals for student learning. They teach responsibility, encourage intellectual curiosity, demonstrate that hard work leads to success and foster an excitement for lifelong learning.

Middle School students are the oldest on campus. They fulfill a variety of leadership roles in their classrooms and within the school community including student government, sports teams, clubs and service activities. In preparation for the future, student leaders learn to set goals, work together and be flexible in a constantly changing world.

Curriculum

English

In sixth-grade English, St. Martin's Episcopal School students start building the core language skills necessary for success. The program focuses on grammatically correct, clear, precise writing and speaking across multiple genres and mediums; critical reading of multimodal texts; annotating texts and vocabulary development. St. Martin's offers a sixth-grade Kairos English class that provides a small-group environment for students who require additional support in order to enter seventh grade on grade level and with confidence.

From sixth through eighth grade, students use this foundation to develop their writing in assignments that vary from creative responses to current and classic young adult literature and to art, to informative research writing during our interdisciplinary STEAM units, to five paragraph, thesis-driven analysis essays.

By the end of their eighth-grade year, SMES middle schoolers will have participated in multiple forms of developmentally appropriate active learning: questioning techniques, thinking and discussion routines and project-based, student-centered activities. In addition to developing proficiency with diverse technology platforms, our students use the online, multimodal vocabulary program, Membean, from sixth through eighth grade to enhance word understanding and retention.

Fine Arts

Students select from choral music, instrumental music, speech and drama and visual arts. The chorus and band perform at school events throughout the year. Speech & Drama students perform at an annual showcase; may also try out for the annual spring musical. Visual Arts students work more independently in a casual art lab setting in drawing, painting, fiber arts, ceramics and digital art. The school hosts an annual Celebration of the Arts to showcase student achievements in the fine arts.

Guidance & Leadership

Guidance

The Middle School guidance program is designed to address students' social and emotional development, needs and growth, with the emphasis on character education and leadership. Topics addressed include effective communication skills, decision-making, self-control, conflict resolution, empathy and goal setting. Middle School students have weekly guidance and leadership classes alternating by semester. The school counselor is also available for one-on-one or small group meetings to address specific needs. Middle School students also participate in the Freedom Against Chemical Dependency program, which examines the physiological and psychological effects of various drugs and provides a forum for discussing the social, cultural and personal issues related to the choices students and families make.

Leadership

The St. Martin's Sixth Grade Leadership Program teaches many of the Habitudes #1 lessons developed by Tim Elmore in his well-regarded student leadership and development series, "The Art of Self Leadership." Self-leadership covers the key principles of building character, time management, self-discipline and taking initiative.

The seventh-grade program uses the Habitudes #2 lessons in Elmore's "The Art of Connecting with Others." Students investigate personal power as opposed to positional power. Class time is spent in discussion and activities geared toward acquiring the credibility to influence others and work on relationship issues, empowering students to attract others to follow.

The eighth-grade program begins with work on interviewing skills for high school placement. Students investigate their schools of interest and discuss the preparation process. Later in the semester, the classes use Habitudes #3 curriculum, "The Art of Leading Others." Topics include embracing ourselves and others casting a vision, setting priorities, team building and placement, leading change and strategic planning. During a philanthropy component, students partner with the St. Martin's Advancement team.

Math

The Go Math curriculum helps students make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Sixth grade math classes are taught using a flipped classroom, giving students individualized support in the classroom and the flexibility to watch, pause, rewind and re-watch the "lecture" part of the class at home. This approach helps meet the needs of a diverse set of learners while developing the agency and independence students will need as they begin to navigate Middle School.

Sixth-grade math students study basic mathematical functions and problems solving in the areas of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole number, decimals, fractions, ratio and proportion, pre-algebra and geometry. The curriculum helps students to reason abstractly and quantitatively, as well as allow the students to encounter, practice and extend their knowledge of mathematics. Students complete an interdisciplinary STEAM project each year that acts as a way for students to put the "bigness" of the universe in perspective - calculating distances between the planets and converting units to demonstrate the distance between planets.

Seventh-grade Pre-Algebra is an introductory, integrated algebra and geometry program. During the first semester, the course focuses on connecting prior knowledge to new, expanded concepts through a student of rational numbers, proportional relationships, percent application, expressions, equations and inequalities. The second semester begins with students participating in our seventh grade STEAM project in which they design a bird feeder attachment and create a scaled blueprint using their knowledge of ratios and proportions. The rest of the semester is focused on building a solid understanding of the real number system, exponent proportions, geometry, probability and statistics.

Eighth-grade class offerings are designed to help students think critically and build the foundations of Algebra necessary for success in high school mathematics. We offer three levels of classes, including Foundations of Algebra, Algebra 1 and Accelerated Algebra 1. Students study a range of topics including linear equations and inequalities, systems of equations, functions, polynomials, quadratic functions and more. After learning all of the function families and transformations, students are asked to apply their their knowledge in a graphing project. Second semester concludes with Carter's Boxcar Race, our culminating STEAM project in which students are asked to demonstrate their ability to problem solve and apply their learning.

Physical Education

St. Martin's physical education program promotes students' lifelong commitment to their own physical well-being, health and personal fitness. Through independent practice, cooperative learning groups and game play, students learn and develop skills in basic movement, physical fitness, individual and team sports. Skill-related fitness and personal skills for well-being are taught along with interpersonal communication, safety and fairness in game play. Health-related fitness and maintaining physical fitness throughout adulthood is a frequent topic of discussion. The program emphasizes good sportsmanship, giving your best effort and continuous improvement over athletic talent. Classes meet twice weekly and students are encouraged to strive for new levels of physical performance and enjoyment.

Religion

The sixth-grade curriculum focuses on increasing the student’s knowledge of the Bible, particularly in the Hebrew Testament. Students learn ways to apply Biblical principles in everyday situations and connect Biblical insights with their own.

The seventh-grade curriculum continues to emphasize familiarity with and study of the Bible, particularly the Christian/New Testament and the four Gospels. The course will offer an introduction to major world religions.

The eighth-grade religion seminar is a study in the field of ethics. Students consider ideas from religion, history, culture and philosophy. Influential individuals from Socrates to current-day leaders are studied in order to explore more deeply ethical thought and behavior.

Science

Science is the process of gathering knowledge about the natural world through questioning, hypothesizing, observing, experimenting, collecting data, analyzing, interpreting and communicating results. Experiential learning is the key to understanding new science concepts.

The sixth-grade science, curriculum is an introductory course on Earth Science, Environmental Science and Astronomy. To begin the year, students learn about matter and its various properties and changes. They study Earth's atmospheric layers and weather and learn about geologic processes and how they lead to the formation of different rocks, minerals, gems, volcanoes and earthquakes. Students also examine Earth's place in the universe and the phenomena we can observe from it. Some of these include the other planets of the solar system, the sun and how it affects our planet and atmosphere, the formation and phases of the moon, origins of space travel and exploration. By the conclusion of the course, students perceive Earth as a dynamic, ever-changing planet with unique properties and characteristics that permit it to support life.

The seventh-grade life science is a comprehensive program of academics, labs, STEAM projects and opportunities for critical thinking. It is an inquiry-driven course that includes the study of cells, bacteria, viruses, plants, animals, fungi, human body systems, genetics and heredity.

The eighth-grade science curriculum is an introduction to Chemical and Physical Science that begins with a review of basic science concepts including the scientific methods, scientific units, scientific notation, states of matter and phase changes. Students delve into the world of Chemistry by learning the history of the atom, parts of the atom, how to read the periodic table of elements, basic chemical reactions and acid and bases. The second semester will be an introduction to Physical Science, covering concepts of motion, speed, acceleration, forces, pressure, work, power, energy, electricity and waves. Students engage in cooperative learning activities, independent study, labs and projects. This year will end with a week-long Box Car STEAM project. The students are given multiple opportunities for deepening conceptual understanding, creativity and innovation.

Social Studies

The sixth-grade social studies course, World History, surveys global historical topics, with a primary focus on the following historical themes: Beginning of Civilization & The Four Valleys, Empires in Africa and South America, Classical Civilizations, The Middle Ages & The Renaissance and The Enlightenment & Exploration; including the 13 American Colonies and Revolution.

Map literacy and primary source analysis are incorporated throughout the curriculum. Students learn to demonstrate mastery of document analysis by completing a culminating DBQ Essay. Students also obtain basic research and study skills with hands-on practice.

The seventh-grade curriculum focuses on American history. The course units include Geography 101, Westward Expansion, Civil War & Emancipation, the Empire Building, Civil Rights, Immigration, Political Systems and Economic Principles. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of primary documents. The fundamentals of geography as a social science, the physical and human geography of North and South America and maps skills are incorporated throughout the course, with students being responsible for learning the location and capitals of the countries studied.

The eighth-grade Social Studies curriculum focuses on the physical and human geography of Europe, Russia, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The human geography component of the course operates under the overarching essential question, "What does it mean to be a Western country?". As the year progresses, students learn and explore the geographic and historical reasons why the Western and non-Western worlds are so different. Map skills are incorporated throughout the course, and students are responsible for learning the locations, capitals and physical features of the countries we study. Group projects are bases on research, problem solving, evaluation and presentation skills.

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STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math)

By the time students enter middle school, they are skillful in their approach to problem-solving and are agile in the 4 C's: collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. Integrated STEAM projects become more complex and push students to become not just problem-solvers but problem seekers. Students are given opportunities to use familiar tools and resources to create content in new and innovative ways. The Industrial Arts program integrates the design thinking and engineering processes with technology and art, offering students the opportunity to apply their skills to a new medium in a fully equipped woodshop. The STEAM program culminates with the annual 8th-grade Boxcar Challenge, a year-long and fully interdisciplinary project that concludes in a schoolwide event each spring.

Technology

In sixth-grade Computer Science, students learn to program in JavaScript, utilizing Khan Academy, to code pictures and animations. They then move to learn Python through EarSketch to code their own music.

Seventh-grade students work with universal programming concepts in multiple coding languages such as Blockly, Python and Javascript.

St. Martin's eighth-graders learn about robotics and text language programming software to build and program their own robots.

World Language

Students have the opportunity to begin learning Spanish and French in the two-year-old program and continue language learning until eighth grade. They start by learning colors, weather and simple Spanish and French phrases in Early Childhood through various methods of play and visual learning. Basic conversation, grammar, verb conjugations and French and Spanish culture are taught in Elementary School. Students alternate between Spanish and French each semester until sixth grade. In sixth grade, students choose either Spanish or French.

In Middle School, students begin to communicate more fluently in the target language. The world language program includes a more in-depth study of grammar, sentence structure and verb conjugations. These students participate in project-based learning to practice dialogue in the target language. The world language program incorporates STEAM projects into each grade level. Our goal is to provide students with a strong language foundation that prepares them will for high school.