Our Middle School program is an active, faith -filled environment that is centered around these curriculum areas and provides our students with leadership opportunities on a daily basis.
Religion
The Saint Philip Middle School Religion curriculum allows students to explore their faith through a variety of programs. Each grade’s course of study is rooted in a core curriculum: grade six focuses on the Old Testament, grade seven on Jesus’s life and teachings, and grade eight on church history.
All programs dovetail into the exploration of the Circle of Grace, family life, church vocabulary and prayer, and a weekly Gospel discussion; here, students learn the importance of God’s presence in our family life, how to understand and respect their own boundaries as well as the boundaries of others, and to understand and spread the Good News
As students explore their own relationships with Jesus, we come together as a community of faith centered on our school’s motto: “…teaching truth, building community, and inspiring service.”
Language Arts
The Saint Philip Middle School Language Arts curriculum is rooted in the development of the key skills of writing, reading, listening, and speaking. Literature exposes students to a variety of genres.
Classroom discussion emphasizes literary elements and critical thinking skills, and students explore meaningful written responses in literature through vocabulary development, integration of textual evidence, and application of reading strategies.
Grammar lessons are at the core of the curriculum as the skills in parts of speech, clauses and complex sentences, sentence structure and usage rules are directly applied into writing workshops.
Proper essay format and paragraph structure is modeled and reinforced as students are encouraged to find value in each step of the writing process. As different types of writing genres are explored, students participate in a variety of in-class workshops to help develop their own voices.
Mathematics
Mathematics courses in the Middle School attempt to challenge all students to learn mathematics at the highest level. In a spirit of academic differentiation, we now offer 2 advanced placement options (Pre-Algebra & Algebra 1) for our Grade 7 & 8 students. In all math classes, hands-on activities and group work are balanced with note taking, practice, application, and analysis of concepts.
Problem solving situations lead students through discussion and sense-making of mathematical principles. Students are asked to be active participants in their learning. All classes keep notebooks and binders to organize their work.
Science
The Saint Philip Middle School Science curriculum encompasses the three core areas of earth science, life science, and physical science. Lectures with notes, various assessments and projects, and many lab-based activities help each student to become proficient and prepared for high school.
Arts-related (STEAM) activities incorporated into the curriculum inspire fun while helping each student find his/her unique way of understanding science topics.
Students participate in an annual Science Fair and Invention Convention, and help to cultivate seedlings in the school greenhouse that will later be planted in the parish community garden for the benefit of those in need.
Social Studies
Our Middle School Social Studies curriculum reflects progression in skill development including analysis of maps, the use of primary and secondary sources, differentiating fact from opinion, analysis of time lines, and analyzing charts and graphs.
Students demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways, utilizing technology and cooperative learning which helps them develop a deeper understanding of the cultures and countries of the world in which they live.
Students in the sixth grade study the historical, cultural, geographic, economic, and political systems in the Ancient World, Middle Ages, and during the Renaissance, Reformation and the Enlightenment.
In seventh grade, the students begin a chronological history of the United States from the period of pre-Columbian civilizations to the beginning of the Civil War. The eighth grade curriculum continues with American history by starting with the Civil War and progressing to modern times.
Electives
The Saint Philip Middle School program includes elective opportunities which vary from one trimester to the next. Students may choose from course options such as coding, journalism, learning the finer points of games of skill such as cribbage or chess, discovering songwriting, fiddling with the ukulele, taking part in a book club, playing dodgeball, learning Italian, or dabbling in cartooning! Elective courses change from time to time depending on faculty availability and areas of interest and expertise!
C.A.P Program
Community Assisted Partnership for Experiential Learning
The Saint Philip Community Assisted Partnership (C.A.P.) Program is a new and exciting learning initiative, designed exclusively for our Saint Philip Middle School students!
Through hands-on workshops, seminars, projects and demonstrations, students will have the unique opportunity to engage in experiential learning with multiple community partners during the entire school year! Learning about different career choices, this program offers a variety of special interest subject areas that foster student leadership, develop “real world” knowledge and teach life-readiness skills for years to come
Empower Hour
Students in our Middle School will also be participating in a monthly “Empower Hour” curriculum to enhance their higher level learning skills. Areas of focus include:
- critical / logical reasoning
- thinking skills
- problem solving skills
- quantitative skills
- “big picture” macro thinking
- detailed exploration
Additionally, students will also work on organizational and study skills, high school placement test preparation, building resilience under pressure, remediation for challenging subjects and brain games to nourish their academic and social skills in a fun and non-threatening learning environment.