MIDDLE SCHOOL Overview

In Middle School, Epiphany students begin to make connections with some of the concepts they learned in lower grades with bigger ideas. Skills like critical thinking and problem-solving are fostered in the classroom and broadened through valuable experiential learning trips throughout each year of Middle School.

Additional humanities and life skills classes complement a rich STEM curriculum to help create well-rounded students and prepare them for the challenges of Epiphany’s Upper School curriculum.

Grades 6-8 At A Glance

• Living history and experiential learning trips to Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Charleston, Washington DC
• STEM trip to Disney for grades 6-8
• Small class sizes provide more personalized, individualized attention (8:1 student to faculty ratio)
• Highly qualified, experienced teachers who care about each student - focus on the individual student to achieve maximum potential
• Learning Services and various tutoring opportunities are available
• Kids want to come to school every day. Students, teachers, and parents describe their experience as a family, supportive, happy, friendly, and safe
• No teaching to the test/EOG/standardized testing allowing teachers to teach the full year and focus on each student's achievements and needs
• Dual accreditation by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools AND Southern Association of Independent Schools
• Balanced STEM curriculum with a comprehensive, hands-on science program
• Beginning in 7^th grade, students will take two electives a year (one per semester), allowing them to discover and mature their interest in the arts or athletics
• A comprehensive advisory program that matches students with advisors who act as mentors and coaches for students throughout their Middle School years
  
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SIXTH, SEVENTH, & EIGHTH GRADES

Middle School is a time of transition for students — emotionally, socially, academically, physically, and spiritually. The Middle School curriculum and program are designed to help students smoothly transition to the Trent Campus. We understand that the needs of Middle School students differ from students in either the Lower or Upper Schools.

The transition to Middle School is made easier by a variety of means. First, we carefully designed and planned the Trent Road Campus for these students. Sixth Graders have access to all the amenities (the Performing Arts Center, the laboratories, Learning Center, art and music rooms, the gymnasium, and Dining Hall), and yet they are given their own “breathing space” in a wing separate from older students. Seventh and Eighth Graders then move to the Middle School hallway, which mirrors the Upper School one. Starting in Grade 6, Epiphany students are eligible to participate in interscholastic sports.

Second, each student is assigned an advisor, a faculty member who serves as a mentor and advocate of approximately twelve to fifteen students each year. These advisory groups will learn how to work together, play together, and serve together as a team. In a sense, advisory groups become a “family” for our students.

Last, the Middle School curriculum is designed to be a bridge that leads to success throughout the Middle School years and into Upper School. The academic course objectives are designed to build upon the foundations established in Lower School. Subjects are explored at a deeper level, with opportunities to build self-reliance, study skills, and discipline.

ELECTIVES

Developmentally appropriate elective classes allow students to explore their interests and talents as they prepare for choices they will have in the future. Students in grade 6 have Life Skills and PE and Health as required electives. They also experience a quarterly rotation of courses to introduce them to Trent Campus offerings. Students in grades 7 and 8 have a built-in rotation of PE and Health and Study Hall as one of their elective experiences. They then choose one additional elective per semester.