Middle School Life
Middle school students are social learners, and their learning lab is everything they do at school. While they think "field trip, seventh grade class play, fill in my Class Planner, plan my art project, share in the crazy antics at morning break time" and so forth, the adults who guide them are thinking "communications skills, study skills, organizational skills, teamwork skills, community-building skills, self-knowledge skills" and so forth.
The academic content is in the curriculum, and school life brings it all together. The whole experience exceeds the sum of the individual parts.
The Benedictine philosophy of learning in a community where students and adults work and play together, and enjoy each other's company, permeates Middle School life. The Benedictine values expressed in the school's mission statement are threaded through all aspects of campus life.
Social Life
Shared experiences with classmates and teachers build friendships, teamwork skills and social skills. For example, the entire Middle School leaves in September for outdoor education camping trips led by trained naturalists. Another example: working in big and small groups, Middle Schoolers develop and follow through on community involvement activities and on-campus service projects. They also have great fun organizing their own activities—for example, dances and movie nights in the gym.
Individuality
Students are encouraged in many ways to discover and develop their varied and individual talents. At the same time, they are given guided experiences to help them support their classmates' efforts. An example is seventh grade drama, where students write a collaborative script and produce their own class play. Working slowly, Drama teacher John Sugden encourages students to take a small risk. He simultaneously shows other students how to kindly support that risk. Students learn to help each other and cover for each other when something goes wrong, and the result is a production they're proud to show their parents. The skills learned in drama help students begin risk-taking and group support in other academic settings.
Community Involvement
WPS has a long-standing, school-wide tradition of participating in a wide variety of activities that support the less fortunate or address a needed social change. Middle School students join right in. It begins with the "Service Learning" curriculum, which extends from grades 6 through 12. Middle School students see and pick up on the positive energy of their teachers and the High School students, who seem always to be involved in a cause they care about.
Class Retreats
Class retreats foster self-awareness and community-building. Each class retreat is based on a Benedictine value. The Middle School focus is on community—in their own lives, their neighborhood, and the world. Over the years, students and faculty (who always accompany students on retreats) develop strong ties of positive interdependence and respect. This network becomes an important source of support as students move through their middle and high school years and into college.
The retreats are part of the Priory's commitment to support each student's awareness of and relationship with the Divine. Time for personal and communal prayer is a part of each Priory retreat.
Advising and Counseling
Middle School advisory groups consist of six to eight students with one faculty member, who usually stays with the group for all three years. These groups are separated by gender. They meet monthly for activities promoting personal development and decision-making skills. Topics include responsibility, respect, commitment, spirituality and support for individuality. Advisory groups may also work on academic performance, and there is room for relaxation and dreaming about the future.
Academic advising begins with classroom teachers, who identify needs and make time after school to work with students. Teachers are also the ones to notice when a student is doing very well and encourage him or her to reach ahead. All students are welcome to drop into the Academic Resource Center for help. The Priory's learning specialist helps when the teacher's help isn't enough, or with known learning differences, and with a range of difficulties that may affect a student's academic performance.
Middle School students also have access to the services of the Director of Guidance and Counseling and his support team, which includes the Middle School Dean. Grade-level faculty meets regularly to discuss changes in student performance or behavior, and they may call on this support team when needed.