Middle School: Designed With Intention
Grades 5 - 8
“Our learning is centered around big concepts that inspire thought and action with a focus on intellectual, emotional, and social growth.”
Your child's learning journey culminates in our Middle School which is made up of four separate grade levels, 5th - 8th grade.
Your child will spend their day moving from classroom to classroom, learning from multiple teachers who are passionate about their unique subject areas. Behind the scenes, our team of educators work together to find synergies between the subjects to create an interdisciplinary, coherent, and challenging curriculum.
Our learning is centered around big concepts that inspire thought and action with a focus on intellectual, emotional, and social growth. The approach in Middle School is guided by a desire to honor our students' need for independence by empowering them to be their own advocates, to engage with teachers directly, to take ownership in their academic work, to solve their own problems, to provide support to each other, to transition between rooms and buildings on their own, and to choose their own cocurricular classes.
A hallmark of our program is the emphasis we place on teaching students how to learn. We focus on teaching students the skills and strategies that promote growth and competence. When our Middle Schoolers move on to their respective Secondary Schools after Grade 8, they are not only recognized for their academic work, but they are praised for their mature emotional intelligence. Our students are organized, articulate and they advocate for themselves - exactly what they need to navigate the high school years and beyond.
Middle School Fast Facts
|
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) is our educational framework. |  |
Research shows that MYP students outperform their non-IB peers on the International Schools' Assessment (ISA). |  |
We are not a waiting room for high school. Our middle school students learn how to be school leaders and roles models. |
|
|
The Middle School Advisory Program provides students with individualized support that addresses their academic, social, and emotional needs. |  |
A comprehensive 18-month High School Counseling Program and a personalized plan for finding the right-fit school. |  |
Service is a key component to the middle school experience and is guided by the foundations of the IB MYP program. |
Academics
In Grades 5-8, Whitby students fully embrace an academically rigorous IB curriculum called the Middle Years Program (MYP), which includes Science, Mathematics, Design, Language and Literature, Individuals and Societies, Spanish, Physical and Health Education, and Theater, Music and Visual Arts. Our Middle School provides a framework of academic challenge that encourages students to explore real-world concepts and issues, challenge assumptions, think critically, and acquire skills that they will need to apply throughout their educational and future professional journeys.
The strength of our program stems from the belief that learning is more meaningful when students are provided opportunities to explore concepts through the lens of different subject areas. This is called interdisciplinary learning and it is a hallmark of our approach. It is also the key to teasing out our students’ innate creativity by providing them multiple avenues to approach problem-solving. We teach for the understanding of real-life concepts rather than the simple regurgitation of knowledge.
Another strength of the academic program in our Middle School is that teaching extends far beyond the content and concepts in a given subject area. We invest time to integrate the teaching of key skills that help our students become better learners as well as better people. The IB MYP Program calls these Approaches to Learning (ATLs) and they include critical-thinking, reflection, organization, collaboration, affective, information literacy, communication, transfer, creative thinking, and media literacy skills. ATLs facilitate student learning in a variety of areas such as how they manage time and tasks effectively, how they work with others, how they manage their state of mind and how they use language to communicate. These ATLs also help students become more aware of the learning process and understand their strengths and challenges as learners.
Assessment
Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning at Whitby. The word assessment stems from the latin word "assidere" which means "to sit beside." We view assessment as an opportunity "to sit beside" your child to help them understand where they are at in their progression of learning.
The use of rubrics is one way we help students assess themselves as learners. Rubrics are also used to guide teachers in their planning for learning engagements in addition to formal assessments. Students are provided rubrics at the beginning of each unit or ahead of each assessment so they're aware of what they're working towards and what "good" should look like. With this knowledge and understanding, they're empowered to achieve their goals.
Academics
In Grades 5-8, Whitby students fully embrace an academically rigorous IB curriculum called the Middle Years Program (MYP), which includes Science, Mathematics, Design, Language and Literature, Individuals and Societies, Spanish, Physical and Health Education, and Theater, Music and Visual Arts. Our Middle School provides a framework of academic challenge that encourages students to explore real-world concepts and issues, challenge assumptions, think critically, and acquire skills that they will need to apply throughout their educational and future professional journeys.
The strength of our program stems from the belief that learning is more meaningful when students are provided opportunities to explore concepts through the lens of different subject areas. This is called interdisciplinary learning and it is a hallmark of our approach. It is also the key to teasing out our students’ innate creativity by providing them with multiple avenues to approach problem-solving. We teach for the understanding of real-life concepts rather than the simple regurgitation of knowledge.
Electives
We know that learning is more meaningful when students can make connections across subject areas so we've structured our elective classes to complement the programming of our academic day. We also recognize that camaraderie and being part of a team are both important parts of a middle schooler's life so we've purposely designed this program in a way that celebrates students’ diverse interests and encourages new friendships.
Each trimester, your child is required to choose from a selection of interscholastic team sports that meet twice a week while having the freedom to participate in classes such as Robotics, Whitby News Network, Musical Theater, Art Studio, and the MATHCOUNTS Team for the remaining three days of the week. Each of these activities is an enriching experience that brings real-life meaning to their learning and is a great opportunity for our students to explore new interests or develop existing ones.
The best part of our electives program is that our teachers are the instructors. This is a huge win for the students because it helps them feel more comfortable taking risks at trying something new. It also allows teachers to see students in a different context outside the classroom.
Technology
We provide access to a variety of cutting-edge technologies in the Middle School to extend, enhance, and ultimately transform the learning. From a 6th grade Math class using Scratch programming language to introduce integers on an x y coordinate plane before a unit on negative numbers to Grade 8 visual arts class using iPads on stands to make time-lapse videos of their process for creating artwork, teachers and students alike spend much of their day leveraging technology as a tool for creation, exploration, and productivity. The use of technology in our Middle School is constantly evolving as teachers take creative risks to keep the learning engaging and to inspire the students themselves to explore and take risks.
We know the challenges of parenting children in a technology-rich world, so we also make explicit instruction in digital citizenship a key part of our support strategy. We regularly engage students on core topics related to Digital Citizenship, including internet safety, privacy and security, information literacy, cyberbullying, copyright, and technology usage. In addition, Middle School parents and students are required to attend digital citizenship workshops at the beginning of each year before laptops are distributed. Through our one-to-one laptop program combined with various digital citizenship initiatives, we develop proficient, critical, and ethical users of technology.
High School Counseling
The goal of our High School Counseling Program at Whitby School is to help each individual student find the "right fit" as they continue their educational journey. Our objective is to help students find environments where they will learn effectively, enjoy and contribute to their communities, and reach their full potential.
Consistent with the overall approach to education at Whitby, High School Counseling is highly individualized. The counseling team works in close partnership with students and their parents to explore each student's academic and extracurricular interests and optimal school community, size, and location. Parents and students are encouraged to ask questions, share ideas, and concerns.
Click here for a list of school acceptances and matriculations for Whitby graduates.
Students are advised at each step of the process, such as writing essays, preparing for interviews, and completing applications. The low student-teacher ratio at Whitby means the teachers are able to write very personal and knowledgeable letters of recommendation which are an invaluable component of a student's application packet. Whitby also prepares its students for the admissions process through practice interviews and preparation courses for standardized admissions tests.
Community Service
An integral part of our Middle School program is our students' commitment to community service. Dedicating time to serving others both inside and outside the Whitby community helps students expand their view of themselves and the world, develop empathy, humility, and leadership skills, and come to understand that through their individual actions they can improve the lives of others.
Our goal is to empower students to affect change and discover the impact they can have on our campus, within the local community, and beyond.
Here are some ways our students get involved:
WHITBY BUDDY PROGRAM
People often talk about building community, but at Whitby, community is woven into the fabric of the school. Our Buddy Program pairs our older students with younger students to bridge learning experiences among Primary and Lower School and Middle Schools, and it provides the Middles School students the opportunity to home their mentoring and leadership skills.
SERVICE AND ACTION IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Grades 5-8 teachers focus on incorporating elements of service and action into the curriculum to help students truly understand how their learning translates to the real world, and how they can make an impact. Action includes everything from lending a hand at a local food bank to visiting a nursing home.