Character

Advisory

Through our distinctive advisory program, middle school students develop the skills necessary to be effective, thoughtful leaders. Based on Developmental Design, the advisory program aims to promote team-building, tolerance, communication, conflict resolution and other social-emotional skills. Each year, middle school students work together to develop the Middle School Social Contract, guidelines the students believe will enhance their learning environment. This unique approach gives students ownership over their conduct with others and provides an opportunity to learn accountability to self and others.

Leadership Speaker Series

Community leaders are invited to campus throughout the year to speak with 7th and 8th grade students as part of our Leadership Speaker Series. They are asked to share what it means to be a leader and give examples from their own journey that will help impact and inspire students to see themselves as leaders both now and in the future. 

Student Leaders

Students can run for class office or be elected a member of student council, where they may influence changes and initiate projects for the middle school. They can also serve as Mighty Tigers, our welcoming committee, Tiger Techs, our student tech team, or Student Ambassadors, providing tours to prospective families during Open Houses.

Cross-Divisional Leadership

For those who love to interact with our youngest students, middle schoolers can volunteer to help early childhood students to their classrooms from the car line each morning. Various advisories will even adopt a preschool classroom to serve once a week, interacting, playing with and reading to students. 

Team Captains

A longstanding tradition at The Stanley Clark School is an internal school spirit competition whereby two school teams, Miami and Iroquois, compete for points throughout the academic year. The competition culminates with Olympic Day. Miami and Iroquois team captains are elected each spring and are responsible for the coordination of lower school and middle school Olympic Day, which takes place each May.

Low-Elements Course

In middle school, students learn to work as a team and communicate through group activities on our outdoor low-elements course. Whether as part of our semester-long leadership class or as part of their advisory, the low-elements course helps emphasize and teach team-building, leadership development, effective communication, and developing social-emotional skills.

In lower school, students continue to learn leadership, not only by setting a good example for younger students, but by also continuing to develop presentation skills. Each Friday, lower school students present news, updates and achievements at The Gathering, a meeting for 1st - 4th grade.

In 4th grade, students can run for student council for the first time. Candidates present a speech in front of classmates and if elected, serve as representatives for their class alongside middle school student council members. 

Kindergarten and 4th grade also learn to work collaboratively through a partnership called Kinderbuddies, meeting together throughout the year for community building activities, field trips, art projects, and service learning projects.

Each spring, The Stanley Clark School also participates in the Girls on the Run program, which encourages girls in 2nd through 4th grade to develop good health habits, confidence and leadership while integrating running.

From the age of three, students have the opportunity to develop leadership skills within their classrooms. For instance, preschool students are assigned a specific task each week for which they are responsible. Tasks such as line leader, weather and librarian rotate each week, allowing students to practice being the lead for each classroom responsibility. During morning meetings, individual students present about the weather, calendar and the alphabet; as a result, students gain valuable presentation, communication and public speaking skills from their earliest days.