Middle School

LEARN TO LEARN • LEARN TO DO • LEARN TO BE

At our private middle school in Bel Air, we believe each of our students will find a passion — something they love and have a gift to do — finding and pursuing this gift we call the Hero’s Journey. Our mission is to equip our students with the skills and tools they will need to find and pursue their life’s purpose. During the transformative middle school years, we inspire our young people to develop independent thinking, strong friendships, leadership skills, and pursue their work with integrity.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

• Holistic development focused on mental, physical, emotional, social, environmental, and occupational development.
• STEM offerings in computer programming, networking, and robotics from experienced engineers.
• Entrepreneurial skill development guided by entrepreneurs.
• Field trips and guest presenters to extend learning beyond the classroom.
• Junk food free campus with emphasis on health and wellness.
• Varied sports and physical activity offerings including lacrosse, soccer, basketball, rope exercises, and Yoga.
• No homework or frequent testing.
• Fun and enriching family activities to foster a strong school community.
• Integration of technology into everyday work to improve efficiency

APPRENTICESHIPS

Each summer, our Middle School students obtain an apprenticeship. They experiment with entrepreneurs, scientists and community leaders, honing their most precious gifts and talents until they find a “calling” in life.

WE BELIEVE THAT:

21ST CENTURY LEARNING

• The latest in educational technology for self-paced mastery of reading, writing and math skills.
• Deep Socratic discussions about heroes, history and self-governance to hone critical thinking skills and the ability to powerfully think, write and speak.
• Hands-on project based Quests to master the tools and skills needed to solve problems in the real world.
• Written promises and covenants that form a tightly bound community of individuals learning to form authentic friendships and honestly resolve interpersonal problems.

A LEARNER DRIVEN COMMUNITY

• Students create and sign a Contract of Promises describing how each individual will act and the consequences for violating community norms.
• Mentor teams encourage younger and older students to listen, affirm, set goals and hold each other accountable.
• “Learn to Be” badges that celebrate character and completing leadership challenges.

MEASURING MASTERY

Young heroes celebrate the mastery of tools, skills and character by earning badges, assembling portfolios and taking part in public exhibitions.

Parents use badges to track academic progress in Core Skills like reading, writing, math and spelling and character development in “Learn to Be” Badges.

Electronic and hard copy Portfolios capture rough drafts, photos, video and other creative work.

Public exhibitions at the end of most Quests allow young heroes to present work to experts, customers or the public for a real world test.