Middle School: Grades 5-8

One of the distinguishing features of The Stanley Clark School middle school curriculum is the comprehensive approach to character education. Based on Developmental Design, the middle school advisory program acknowledges the social-emotional needs of early adolescence and helps students to learn, practice, and develop lifelong skills.

Students in 5^th through 8^th grade begin each day in advisories, small groups of students who share a faculty advisor. Faculty advisors lead discussion and activities that promote team-building, tolerance, communication, conflict resolution and other social-emotional skills.

By meeting in small groups daily, students have a time and place within each school day to address emerging issues and faculty are able to mentor and guide students on a regular basis. It is during advisory that students engage in meaningful conversation and exploration of how to contribute to their class, their community, and to the world at large.

Each year middle school students participate in trips with their classmates and faculty advisors.

5th graders, new to the middle school structure and culture, engage in a overnight team-building trip at the Michiana YMCA’s Camp Eberhardt. Here they face fears and conquer them, witness faculty and peers doing the same, and return to campus with a deeper appreciation for how each member contributes to the good of the group.

The Stanley Clark School highly values the Fine Arts, so it is fitting for 6th grade to journey to Chicago to experience and explore The Field Museum, The Institute of Art and the Chicago Symphony. The students will also visit the Lincoln Park Zoo.

7th graders study Acting and Theatre History throughout the year, which culminates in an international class trip to Stratford, Canada for the Stratford Festival. There students learn about Shakespeare, view performances of The Bard's work, try on period costumes, and learn more about the Globe Theatre. 7th graders end the week with a visit to nearby Niagara Falls.

8th graders study US History throughout the year, and culminate their Stanley Clark experience with a trip to the nation’s capital. While in Washington, D.C., students will visit Museum Campus, national landmarks and Capitol Hill. During a recent year, the students were permitted a private audience with Chief Justice John Roberts.

Imagine a class where projects, discussion and problem solving are done in the classroom while homework time is spent learning the next concept via podcast. It’s called flipped classroom, a dynamic program that fosters active, hands-on learning during the school day while passive learning takes place at home. The idea is for students to engage in learning alongside the teacher as a guide and for students to take ownership of the learning process. At The Stanley Clark School, students often learn via this method.

7th grade science students explore the intersections among academic disciplines through a hands-on day trip to Merry Lea Environmental Center of Goshen College, where faculty in science, language arts and visual arts lead students in an interdisciplinary exploration of nature. Students learn firsthand about environmental science and delve into the natural surroundings through linguistic and artistic expression.

 

Graduate students from Goshen College also teach students about various aspects of science, including water quality testing, various biomes at the Center, edible plants, biodiversity and environmental conservation.

 

Beginning in 5th grade, students study the sciences in fully outfitted laboratories. Students may build bottle rockets, participate in the "Metric Olympics," make ice cream, test the heat of various peppers, design and build electric model houses or create water filtration systems. The labs also contain desks and smart boards utilized for direct instruction.

8th grade science students study and learn the various aspects of water testing as taught through the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. After learning all aspects of testing, the students go off-campus to a river site to complete water sampling. Students will test for various aspects of river chemistry, including pH, nitrate levels and ammonia levels. Students also study the biological aspects of the river by collecting, identifying, and categorizing small organisms called macroinvertebrates.

The Stanley Clark School participates in Science Olympiad, a national science competition encouraging students to pursue in-depth studies in areas such as biology, chemistry, physics and engineering. The goal of Science Olympiad at Stanley Clark is to foster student curiosity and scientific exploration. Students in 6th - 8th grades may participate, and no student is cut from the team. Often the club competes against schools whose Olympiads are older students; yet the team consistently places in the state finals and has qualified for nationals three times in recent years.

Starting in 6th grade, students have the opportunity to participate in Speech Team. Nearly 50-60 choose to do so. Students learn to express, interpret, write, communicate, present. They gain valuable communication, leadership, and public speaking skills that will serve them for years to come. The Stanley Clark team competes in speech meets across Indiana, a rare opportunity for middle school students in our region. Consistently the students perform well against competitors, and the team regularly places first or second overall.