Middle School
The Middle School at Green Hedges, which comprises Grade 6 through Grade 8, builds on the rich and challenging educational program in the Lower School while offering new experiences and learning opportunities. Unlike the Lower School, which is homeroom based, the Middle School is discipline based, with students moving from class to class across the day. Rather than having homeroom teachers, Middle School students work closely with their faculty advisors, who monitor and support student progress across all realms of school life. The Middle School years offer students exciting and rewarding opportunities to explore an expanding world of knowledge and perspective in all subject areas.
Significance is placed on all components of language arts with additional emphasis on writing, which becomes the pivotal point for language expansion and comprehension. Students are tutored in oral presentations, debate, and public speaking so that they are poised and accomplished in front of an audience and so that they can most effectively present their emerging personal views. They are encouraged to expand their understanding of the world and their place in it by reading all genres of traditional and contemporary international literature. To more fully immerse students into their academic study, this literature curriculum links to the social studies program, which spans the centuries world wide from the Dark Ages to the twenty-first century.
Students are encouraged to approach their mathematics and science classes with an inquisitive mind, keen observation, and a desire to experiment. During this mathematical and scientific exploration, students engage in study that moves from the concrete to the abstract and requires sophisticated thinking and insightful deduction. The Middle School math program follows a three-year sequence of general math in Grade 6, pre-Algebra in Grade 7, and Algebra 1 in Grade 8. In addition to providing students with a conceptual understanding of the specific material, the math instruction in the Middle School is designed to enhance students’ math logic and intuition. In science, students develop critical thinking skills and acquire a basic understanding of scientific principles, theories, methods and concepts related to chemistry and properties of matter, ecology, and energy. In addition to the factual content, students are asked to explore the ethical and social issues connected to the scientific content.
The foreign language program continues to build on the foundation established in the earlier grades. In addition to specific vocabulary and grammatical concepts, students are exposed to cultural aspects of the respective countries. Students work on developing writing skills while continuing to improve their reading and oral communication skills. As our language instruction begins at such an early age, many students go into accelerated foreign language programs in high school. Green Hedges students also fare very well in national foreign language examinations as well as local oral competitions.
These core subject studies are enriched by an in-depth art history course and extensions into the realm of fine art, music, and drama. Green Hedges is committed to exposing students to the arts and the Middle School curriculum fosters intellectual growth and an aesthetic appreciation in all art-related fields of study. In addition to a yearlong art class, students in the Middle School participate in either the band or hand bell ensemble, sing in the chorus, and perform in a class drama presentation.
Green Hedges believes that a healthy body complements a healthy mind and our Physical Education program supports this commitment. Designed to inspire in our students a lifetime of fitness, our program develops skills, introduces strategy, and promotes sportsmanship and team spirit. In addition to thrice-weekly PE classes, Green Hedges offers an interscholastic sports program in the Middle School to provide our students with an opportunity to compete as a team.
Green Hedges promotes numerous opportunities for our Middle School students to engage in a variety of additional activities that define the Middle School experience. This includes a three-day retreat at the beginning of the year to Caroline Furnace,which allows the Middle School students and the faculty to begin to develop the essential student-teacher relationships that promote a memorable, enjoyable, and productive school experience. The Middle School also participates in a number of social and academic day trips across the year which, in conjunction with the strong academic program, prepare the students for high school. At commencement, the young graduates are poised, articulate and prepared for the world beyond Green Hedges.
