calculate fluently and accurately, communicate their math thinking, and apply what they know to complex, real-life situations. Technology is woven into math class in creative and fun ways as well. With Pre-Algebra in 7th grade and Algebra in 8th grade, our students are ready to tackle the challenges of high school math when they graduate from Middle School.

Seventh graders engage in a Global Studies course, beginning the school year studying geography, human rights, and the ways the environment can shape our lives. Guided by the Brown University Choices Program, students engage in a series of deliberations throughout the school year where they work together to find practical solutions to historical dilemmas or policy problems, including international cooperation for climate change, U.S. policy on human rights, directions for Cuba's future, and apartheid in South Africa. The Global Studies class culminates with a Model UN simulation where students research and represent a country in a delegation on an international crisis.

Eighth grade humanities is focused on American Studies. Students ask questions about the definition of justice and the relationship between justice and citizenship while studying the Constitution and the American court system. Students consider the role of the media in a democracy while writing investigative journalism and continue with units on Immigration in U.S. history, industrialization, and globalization in Philadelphia. In the final unit, the course examines the Civil Rights Movement, comparing it to other American social movements. Students consider what it means to "move" as part of a movement and how movements measure success.

Our Middle School Spanish Program works on the premise that students acquire a new language when they understand what they hear, when they understand what they read, and when they are fully engaged in the message. All middle school students read a variety of books at their individual level, which are connected to cultural events in Spanish speaking countries or the United States. They converse in Spanish daily and by 7th grade, the majority of class is conducted in Spanish. What makes our Spanish program really stand out, though, is the dedicated connection to learning a new world language through the lens of social justice and equality. 

and earth sciences. Experiments, inquiries, demonstrations, discussions, and group and independent projects help students construct their understanding. Through study of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, students apply what they are learning to the real-life issues that affect people and our planet, such as climate change, environmental degradation, food security, and bioethics. Students learn how to think like scientists — inquiring, developing theories and hypotheses and testing them.

Students also take an additional trimester of Interactive Tech (circuitry and coding), where they work with programmable hardware to develop design and problem solving skills by exploring systems design with interactive technology.

To ensure equal access to resources, all middle school students receive a Chromebook for their use at home and school.

Much of this work is conducted through Quakerism lessons in the classroom and on the Middle School Retreat. Guided by the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship, our students learn to identify their personal core values, engage in mindfulness practices, and discuss ethics-based moral quandaries and questions. In 8th grade, students assist in guiding our community to enhance their understanding of Quaker practices through clerking and Meeting for Business, becoming strong leaders along the way. 

Each week, students gather for Meeting for Worship in the Meeting House. Meeting begins in silence, so that students can settle and practice reflection. When moved to speak, participants are encouraged to share an idea or inspiration with the rest of the Meeting. The Meeting ends when the eighth graders initiate a handshake.