Accelerated Advancement: Middle Program School at UPCS
To make an rigorous college preparatory curriculum accessible to all students by the beginning of high school, the grade 7-8 curriculum is designed to address the significant academic and English language skill gaps of entering students.
Addressing Literacy Needs: Literacy is a primary focus of the middle school years, helping students to accelerate their reading and writing skills to grade level as rapidly as possible. Unless literacy skill gaps are closed, student achievement in all subjects will be impeded.
In English class, students read engaging and appropriate literature for assignments and for pleasure and they write frequently in journals and other in-class activities. Students learn to love reading and writing and engage in sophisticated analyses of literature. They develop the tools to interpret texts, even as they are still moving toward fluency as readers. In class, the teacher will read to students. She might use picture books to learn about and discuss such sophisticated concepts as personification, imagery, tone, and metaphor.
At the same time, students are reading and writing every day in math, science and social studies, learning to read and write in specific language of that discipline. Lab reports in science, for example, use the same format in middle school as they do in the AP level courses. Teachers use a common writing rubric and have shared expectations and procedures for writing assignments. Through constant practice reading and writing, students catch up by ninth grade.
 Engaging Students through a Culture of Inquiry: From the outset, students at UPCS are introduced to the distinctive modes of analysis of the core disciplines, and begin to engage in projects where they learn to “think like scientists or historians”. For example in math, even as students are still learning basic numeracy skills, they are solving puzzles that anticipate concepts taught in algebra and even calculus. From the outset, science at UPCS is a hands-on, laborartory based program that emphasizes discovery. Students encouter a problem, develop a hypothesis, and test it through experimentation using the scientific method, just as real scientists do.
Looping and a Longitudinal Approach to Curriculum Design: The middle school program at UPCS takes a longitudinal approach to student progress. Whenever possible, teachers loop with students in grades seven and eight. Teachers employ a wide variety of instructional strategies, and a philosophy of pedagogy based on teaching students, not classes. They develop and adjust their curricula based on constant and varied forms of data, including formal and informal interim assessments. Teachers do not necessarily complete the seventh grade curriculum during the seventh grade year, but ,because they loop with their students, they are able ensure that all are prepared for honors-level courses in high school by ninth grade.
Clear Behavioral Expectations and Culture of Support: Behavioral expectations are made clear from day one at UPCS. Discipline at UPCS is virtually non-existent in the traditional sense. Teachers are nurturing, but strict with students. They set clear and high expectations for students and are unrelenting in their demand that students meet them. There is no tolerance for misbehavior, disrespect to other students or teachers, or anything but 100% effort. Teachers crack down on any issues in seventh and eighth grade, greatly diminishing behavior problems before students reach the high school level.
Students learn what it means to be a part of the community at UPCS, coming to understand the unique opportunity that the school offers and the responsibilities for hard work that come with it. Staff and upperclassmen, together, indoctrinate middle school students into the culture of caring and support. Students see that every adult truly believes that they will graduate and attend college. During the middle school years, students internalize the school’s promise they will graduate ready for college and learn about the hard work it will take to make that dream a reality.
More Time for Learning: Incoming seventh graders participate in a three-week academic orientation program called the August Academy, giving them more time to catch up. During the year, a majority of middle school students attend the before and after school homework centers where they receive additional support from their teachers and tutors from Clark University.
Routines and Rituals: Middle school at UPCS is built around clearly defined routines and rituals in every classroom. All math classes begin with a starter problem on the blackboard which students begin in their math journal before the teacher even enters the room. All students use a standard format for their daily agendas and binders enabling them to stay organized and aware of their upcoming assignments.
|
|
|
