MS Divisional Piece

breckschool.org

Middle School

Confidence in knowing.

This is your time. As you change, as you grow, as you discover what you can do…you’ll understand who you can become.

Welcome to Middle School

“Middle School at Breck is a special time. I’ve had so many opportunities to form meaningful relationships with my peers and teachers.”

Emi Middle School Student

Welcome

Middle School at Breck provides an abundance of student opportunities to both fortify areas of interest and delve into uncharted regions.

In approaching these opportunities, we encourage students to both ask and field questions, to seek and provide answers, to initiate new friendships and nourish existing ones, and to appreciate the diverse experiences that members of our community bring on a daily basis.

Now is the time and place to help students navigate their individual journeys toward a more defined sense of self as members of a larger community. Our accomplished, experienced faculty collaborates with, guides, and engages students in an appropriately challenging yet supportive program.

Through intentional time dedicated to supporting students’ learning, growth, and development, Middle School students learn to understand their place in the world and their role in supporting the common good. Upon completion, students are poised, confident, and ready for what awaits in the Upper School.

Sky Fauver Middle School Director

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Middle School

It’s time t explore.

Academic Challenge

Interdisciplinary Learning

Spanning grades 5 to 8, the Middle School experience at Breck is dedicated to providing a safe environment for students to navigate their journeys as academics, artists, athletes, and members of a larger community.

When a student learns to apply the skills they’ve gained in one subject to the learning of another, it deepens their understanding of both.

Guided by an accomplished and

their curricula by including other

veteran faculty, students actively engage in a program designed to challenge and support them.

Throughout Middle School, our faculty put specific emphasis on enhancing disciplines. Culminating in a Grade 8 Capstone Project, this approach prepares every student for the breadth and depth of Upper School.

Academic Program

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Middle School is a time of growth and exploration — intellectually, emotionally, and socially. Our curriculum is designed to guide students as they understand themselves, their world, and the role they want to play in it.

Elective Offerings

Advisory Program

Middle School students have the opportunity to enroll in a wide selection of academic electives to expose them to subjects beyond their core curriculum. We offer classes on

As part of our commitment to nurturing the whole child, we assign each student a faculty advisor to be a formal, personal, and academic advocate. During formal and

Constitutional Law, Engineering,

informal weekly meetings, advisors

Economics and Finance, Sports and

focus on developing studying and

Society, and Creating Virtual Reality

class strategies, process personal

Experiences, just to name a few.

relationships, and facilitate effective, efficient communication among faculty, students, and parents.

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Middle School

Play to your strengths.

At Breck, every activity is another opportunity to learn.

We offer a comprehensive and competitive athletic program that emphasizes the importance of commitment and preparation, personal growth, and teamwork.

Our athletes strive for excellence in their sport and, independent of outcome, compete with grace and school pride.

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The Performing Arts at Breck provide students more than just the chance to grow and explore their own selfexpression and creativity — it’s a chance for them to build something together.

Through dance, music, and theatre, students gain firsthand exposure to the arts and develop the skills and discipline to create something as a group.

Our Visual Arts Department is studiobased at its very core.

Students create work in vivid, beautiful studio spaces under the guidance of real working artists who share their knowledge, talent, enthusiasm, and inspirations that rouse their imagination.

Religion Performing & Visual Arts

Wellness

Electives

Christianities

Ethics

Semester Courses

Hebrew Scriptures

Year-Long Courses

World Religions

Semester Courses

Chamber Chorale String Orchestra Concert Band Wind Ensemble Dance Reperatory

Contemporary Dance Drama Choir World Music Theatre I-III Stagecraft Visual Arts

Year-Long Courses Beginning Band String Orchestra

Choir Dance Exploration Contemporary Dance Stagecraft Visual Arts Theatre I-II

Project Adventure Health Physical Education Outdoor Education

Computer Science, Tinkering/STEM, Newsroom, Intro to Economics, Sports and Society, Writing for Real Audiences, Constitutional Law, and Creating Virtual Reality Experiences.

This list is just a sampling of elective courses students can take in the Middle School.

Elective offerings can vary from academic year to year.

Please see the course guide at breckschool.org for more details.

Mathematics*

English

Explorations in Science

Mathematics 5 Accelerated Math 5

English 5

Grade 5

History 6: MN and Early American History

Physical Science

Extended Math 6 Mathematics 6 Pre-Algebra 6

English 6

Grade 6

History 7: U.S. History

Life Science

Extended Math 7 Pre-Algebra 7 Algebra 7 Advanced Upper School Math Courses

English 7

Grade 7

History 8: Modern Global Issues

Earth Science

Algebra 1A Algebra 8 Geometry 8 Advanced Upper School Math Courses

English 8

Grade 8

Curriculum Overview

Science

History 5: Ancient Civilization

* Acceleration possible

Social Studies & History World Languages

Chinese MS 1–5 French MS 1–5 Spanish MS 1–5 MS Advanced Chinese MS Advanced French MS Advanced Spanish

Advanced Upper School Courses are available in Chinese, French, and Spanish.

Placement in Upper School language courses available dependent upon fluency with language.

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Middle School

Strong body.

Strong mind.

In order to develop lifelong good habits, all students are required to take four age-appropriate wellness classes per year.

Outdoor Education

Health

This program, utterly unique

Health education provides students

to Breck, immerses students in

with important knowledge and skills

our great Minnesota outdoors

to maintain their physical, social, and

to connect with nature, form lasting

emotional health. Here, students learn

connections to one another, and

about positive behaviors and lifestyle

uncover the leaders within. From

choices, risks of injury and illness,

orienteering to fire building, archery

disease prevention and management

to canoeing, students learn to

strategies, and an understanding of

lead, follow, build compassion for

their own growth and development.

one another, and understand the responsibility of stewarding the environment we share.

Project Adventure Project Adventure provides our students the opportunity to strengthen their leadership and teamwork skills. Through team-building exercises, individual challenges, and even conquering our campus high ropes courses, Middle School students will learn to take risks, solve problems, and ultimately succeed together.

Physical Education Teamwork. Leadership.

Personal achievement. Our Physical Education program develops students’ selfconfidence and self-esteem while participating in a variety of developmentally appropriate activities, all while promoting an affinity for an active, healthy lifestyle.

Student Experience

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Building towards greatness.

Be a Mustang

MindWorks

As part of our mission to educate

Our signature MindWorks program

the whole child, Be A Mustang, a

is a research-based initiative

uniquely Breck program integrated

developed by Middle School faculty

into Middle School advisory,

and Breck’s Peter Clark Center for

provides opportunities for students

Mind, Brain, and Education. Faculty

to develop communication skills,

use cognitive flexibility, goal-setting,

resist negative peer pressure, set

and metacognition to foster growth

reasonable goals, make thoughtful,

mindsets and promote self-advocacy

informed decisions, and increase

skills in their students.

self-confidence and motivation.

Gatherings & Travel

Think without borders.

Throughout the year, we plan opportunities for the entire Middle School to gather — from the seats of the Cargill Theater to the slopes of Hyland Hills. In addition, students in grade 6 through grade 8 participate in a trip to deepen an element of their curriculum and grow relationships across the Middle School.

Trips have included Camp Icaghowan Washington, D.C. Wolf Ridge Catalina Island Specific trips will depend on your student’s curriculum.