Getting It Right: A Look at Life “In the Middle” by Head of School Christopher P. Garten
Anyone who has raised or taught a Middle School child knows that the developmental needs of students this age are enormously complex. The Middle School years are a time of incredibly rapid physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth, and it is imperative that schools like ours provide the richest possible soil for the unique learning needs of young adolescents. Over the last several years, Seven Hills has put a major emphasis on the continuing evolution of our Middle School program. Under the leadership of our new Head of Middle School, Bill Waskowitz, the Middle School faculty and administration have spent a great deal of time refining the Middle School program so that it responds, even more fully, to our students’ educational needs. One important tool is a new book called This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents. This publication, commissioned by the National Middle School Association (NMSA), represents the best thinking of some of the nation’s leading teachers and researchers about educating students this age. After discussing this monograph in a series of meetings, the Middle School set about defining, as accurately as possible, their goals for middle school learners. After a great deal of discussion and debate, the faculty has affirmed much of the thinking outlined in This We Believe. In our Middle School, the core of our mission is the cultivation of several critical social and interpersonal skills, among them:
• an understanding of and commitment to developing one’s own particular strengths, skills, talents, or interests • an emerging understanding of one’s potential contributions to society and to personal fulfillment • a sincere respect for the diverse ways people look, think, speak, and act both within the immediate community and around the world • the interpersonal and social skills needed to learn, work, and play with others • the ability to assume responsibility for one’s own actions • a readiness to accept obligations for the welfare of others Equally important is our commitment to helping students develop a toolkit of intellectual skills that will be critical for future success both in subsequent schooling and in the world beyond. These include, among others: • an active awareness of the larger world • a habit of asking significant and probing questions for which there may not be one right answer • the ability to think critically and to express ideas clearly and compellingly • a desire to read deeply and to gather, assess, and interpret information from a variety of sources • substantial experience in using digital tools to explore, communicate, and collaborate Articulating these goals has led, naturally, to extensive (and impassioned!) discussions of best practice in teaching students this age. In large measure, the faculty has adopted the fundamental precepts of the NMSA, that an effective middle school is, above all else, “developmentally responsive, challenging, empowering, and equitable.” continued next page
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