Middle School: Grades 5-8

Click here to download a copy of our Admissions Application
Click here to download a copy of our Student Questionnaire (Grades 5 and 6 only)
Click here to download a copy of our 2009-2010 Curriculum Guide.

Middle School Program Overview

• Preserving Core Values
• Embracing Change and Opportunity

At All Saints:

• You will be known as an individual.
• You will receive one-on-one attention.
• You will enjoy close relationships with your teachers.
• You will be challenged to do your best.

What do Middle School Students Need?

Middle School students need to develop effective presentation skills.

Students at All Saints engage in a variety of activities to support the development of effective presentation skills. From small seminar-style classes, to year-end milestone projects that are presented to a panel of educators, parents, and community members, students are consistently required to present what they have learned in an organized, effective manner.

Middle School students need to feel a link to the community.

Students at All Saints are actively engaged in their learning. From hands-on service projects to conducting action research on youth-related issues, students have many opportunities to be at the center of their learning. An annual overnight mission trip provides students with an intensive community service experience incorporating time for action and reflection.

Middle School students need to have connections with trusting adults besides parents.

At All Saints, each student is provided with a one-to-one mentor committed to the child’s success. This close relationship allows for needed support, feedback and guidance. Students meet with their mentors on a regular basis, and mentors organize meaningful experiences for students. For example, a mentor may help students with their personal statements for high school applications, provide or coordinate opportunities to engage in work shadowing, or simply help a student navigate a difficult time in class or a peer situation.

Middle School students need a meaningful and purposeful academic curriculum.

At All Saints, we employ highly-qualified teachers who are well versed with curriculum and who understand the developmental complexity of the middle school years. The curriculum is designed to maximize personal academic achievement, and to prepare students for a meaningful high school experience.

Middle School students need to be flexible, effective problem solvers with a strong sense of ethics and responsibility. At All Saints, students consistently engage in discussions about the physical, emotional, social, and academic changes that are happening in their lives. The curriculum is designed to accommodate an adolescent’s need to question and make sense of the world and to grapple with complex moral issues. Students also develop personal and realistic goals for themselves, and reflect on these goals at the end of each trimester.

What is an Episcopal Education?

While Episcopal schools vary in types and scope, the underlying values of faith, tradition and reason intersect to support the development of healthy, involved, self-disciplined students who seek to better the world through effective participation and service.

The Curriculum

At All Saints, we nurture academic excellence and social responsibility through enriched experiences in an urban community. Our program is designed to educate the whole child: academic, physical, spiritual, artistic and emotional. The curriculum at All Saints is designed to foster academic achievement and personal development in a community founded upon shared values of hard work, self discipline, mutual respect and the active pursuit of knowledge and understanding.

At All Saints we inspire…*

• The discipline and integrity to be successful in school and in life;
• An appreciation for the diversity and cultural wonder of urban life;
• A responsibility for this planet and gratitude for its beauty;
• A developed sense of one’s own spirituality through social action and service;
• A sincere love of learning.

The curriculum for Middle School is aligned with the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards, and is designed to provide a structured scope and sequence in all subject areas across all grade levels. The curriculum builds on the skills covered the previous year, and spirals around to review and reinforce concepts in accordance with the child’s developmental growth and increasing comprehension levels. Curriculum design at All Saints is intentional and is based on sound research about teaching and learning. The skills and concepts outlined for each grade level provide teachers the direction they need about what will be taught while having the flexibility to allow for professional creativity and judgment about how concepts will be covered. This balanced design ensures that key concepts and skills are being covered in a way that keeps teachers and students engaged and enthusiastic about the curriculum.

Courses Taught in Fifth Grade

Literature
Language Arts
Creative Writing
Math
Science
History
Current Events
Action Research
Spanish or French
Physical Education
Health
Music
Arts
Community Service
Comparative Religions

After School Programs

In today’s world, with many parents working long hours and with the changing face of our community, we envision All Saints being “the new neighborhood” for students. This means that following a full day of school, students may need support with homework, and opportunities for safe, enjoyable recreation with peers. The Middle School After School Program strives to meet these goals through its extended day program, including study hall, a variety of enrichment clubs (youth newsletter, chess, foreign language, etc.), and a work-study program in which students are trained to act as junior counselors in the after school program serving elementary students.

Admissions Process and Timeline

The admissions process is designed to ensure a student body that will be equipped to live out the mission of the school. The process starts with the written application. Once received, the family is contacted to arrange for parent and student interviews, as well as the administration of an achievement test to gauge the student’s level of ability. Additional requirements include recommendations from current teachers, most recent standardized test scores and report cards. The Admissions Committee meets at the beginning of February to make admissions decisions, and admission notifications are mailed March 1.

Click here for important dates and requirements for admissions.

A Typical Fifth Grade Class Schedule