Middle School Explorations

Explorations are an integral part of our middle school experience. Our own extension of what is typically thought of as an elective course, each trimester, students select two courses based on their own interest. Each exploration class meets twice a week and is led by one of our faculty; it may expand on their traditional area of expertise or an area of their own passion. Mr. Cooper, our music teacher may lead a pop band while a science teacher leads an exploration about a podcast on historical objects while in the Tech lab students code. In the second and third trimester, many of the classes are geared towards preparation for our all-school spring musical while others explore critical thinking and artistic pursuits in ways that are student driven and feel like fun rather than work.

Allowing students and teachers to have this opportunity to explore things that matter to them not only fosters their creativity and love of learning but also enhances meaningful connections in the classroom. For the specialists who teach technology, music, visual arts, engineering and drama, the middle school explorations build on topics of interest to students. At the same time, for the middle school teachers, teaching students a passion subject allows them to get to know each other on a different level. The fostering of these student-teacher relationships is a central part of how we create a meaningful learning community in our middle school.

Explorations don’t just foster relationships, they foster critical skills. Our students develop critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, and compassion; stalwarts of our school’s mission and academic program. Because students are exploring projects of interest to them, analysis and problem-solving feel like fun rather than academics. As a result, in the course of collaborating on a new musical piece, researching and preparing a children’s book about Queen Latifah, or comparing ancient proverbs to modern literature, students are developing the 21st-century skills that will propel their future success as learners and as citizens in our evolving world.