Middle School Courses
"When I came to the Priory, I brought new ideas and cultural proposals, and all 65 of my students enthusiastically joined in. That was my clue to the spirit of the Priory. The open-mindedness and interest of my students, and the charm and kindness in the air, create a wonderful environment for a teacher."
– José Mejia-Torres, Spanish Teacher
Developing Minds, Exploring Passions
The Priory Middle School offers rich academic courses with a broad array of dynamic electives. Each grade level has one Humanities teacher, who teaches both English and social studies. This teacher acts as a type of “homeroom” teacher for each grade level. This consistency is a great structure for middle school students. We offer a wide range of electives for all grade levels. Sixth graders take a quarter of art, computer science, drama, and music. Seventh and eighth graders select several choice electives each year to explore their interests and talents. We currently offer the following choice electives:
WoodworkingPainting & Drawing
Ceramics
Digital Photography
Improvisation/Sketch comedy
Movie and TV acting
Introduction to Dance
Scratch
Lego Robotics
Digital Video
Guitar
Dynamic & Engaging
Our middle school teachers are dynamic and engaging. Learning is highly collaborative and “hands on.” We believe in innovative lesson planning that includes putting our students in the center of their own learning. Student-centered instruction allows students to feel connected to the material and enhances student learning. We want our students to think critically, problem solve, discuss and synthesize, and investigate the world around them. We are mindful of our growing global community and incorporate global issues and discussions with our students.
Everyone Knows Your Name
Our middle school student body is approximately 100 students with a balance of boys and girls. With a student-teacher ratio of about 9:1, teachers really get to know each student well. Students develop strong relationships with their teachers. Each student is “known and loved” in our nurturing school environment. Students benefit both academically and socially from the community feeling of this learning environment. We offer several leadership opportunities for our middle school students including our executive middle school council positions, grade level class officers, as well as, participation on middle school committees. All middle school students can join committees to take on a more active role in our sporting events, extracurricular community events (dances, pool parties, movie nights, etc.) and our daily school life activities (like running our snack shack, the Cub Shack). Our students are actively involved in the daily happenings of our school community. This makes all the difference.
Middle School Program Requirements
English 6, 7, 8 3 years: Literature, writing, grammar, vocabulary development
Social Studies 6th Grade Ancient World History
7th Grade World History
8th Grade American History and Government
Science 6th Grade Physical and Environmental Science & Health
7th Grade Earth/Space Science
8th Grade Life Science
Math 6, 7, 8 3 years: Students are assigned math classes based on their past performance and test scores.
Theology 6, 7, 8 3 years: Christian Scripture, Benedictine Foundations, and World Religions
World Language 6, 7, 8 3 years: French, Spanish, or Japanese
Physical Education 6, 7, 8 3 years: health and fitness based on the SPARK program
Electives 6th Grade: Art, Drama, Music and Computer Science: one quarter each
7th/8th Grade: Seventh grade students take one semester of Computer Science. Eighth grade students
take one quarter of health. In addition, seventh and eighth grade students have the opportunity to
choose from a wide variety of quarter long electives in music, computer science, visual art, and
performing art.
Typical Class Schedule
|
6th Grade |
7th Grade |
8th Grade |
|
Math 6, 7 or Pre Algebra English Ancient World History Physical & Environmental Science Spanish, French, or Japanese Theology Physical Education Music/Art Drama/Computer Science |
Math 7, Pre Algebra, or Algebra 1 English World History Earth/Space Science Spanish, French or Japanese Theology Physical Education Computer Science 2 Choice Electives |
Pre Algebra, Algebra 1 or Geometry English American History & Government Life Science Spanish, French or Japanese Theology Physical Education Health 3 Choice Electives |