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The Science and Art of Brimmer
Middle School
We Live at the Intersection of Curiosity and Creativity
That’s the Science and Art of Brimmer. The second you walk on campus, you can feel it.
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his place crackles with the energy created by a group of engaged students and faculty who love to ask big questions, chase down big answers… and then start all over again. Our Middle School is a place where knowledge isn’t simply “handed down”: it is joyfully and intellectually built and questioned each day. A history class might spark a science experiment. A design challenge might inspire a writer. Students learn how everything
connects, and in doing so, they discover what they’re capable of. These are the years when students begin to discover who they are and what matters most to them. Our curriculum is designed to challenge every student, introducing new disciplines, perspectives, and ways of thinking. Our goal? By the time they’re ready to head to the Upper School, they have a voice, a process, and the confidence to use both.
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Experience Brimmer Through Our Lens Our Instagram captures dynamic moments on campus—and beyond! Get to know us, one post at a time!
Middle School
Character Is Core to Our Curriculum
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trong character and strong academic achievement are deeply connected, but the values that help our students thrive together in the classroom will also shape how they move through the world. Brimmer’s five Core Values are Respect, Responsibility, Kindness, Honesty, and Equity. They form the moral and emotional foundation of our school community, guiding how our students, faculty, and staff treat one another, and giving us all meaningful shared language to
understand and navigate their world with confidence and compassion. In a world where algorithms take on increasing amounts of composition, calculation, and analysis, our students will develop the judgment to navigate what is unclear. They will show compassion for others and have the integrity to do what is right when no one is watching. These are the qualities that will set them apart wherever their future takes them into careers that don’t yet exist.
To learn more about how the Core Values shape our campus culture, scan here.
Everyone at Brimmer is committed to living out the Core Values, and not just in the moments we are in class or in an activity. We live them in the hallways, too.” Grade 7 student
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Middle School Community + Culture
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iddle school has often had a bit of a reputation, but Brimmer and May is rewriting it. At a time when students are navigating some of the biggest changes of their lives, Brimmer flips the script, turning these years into a time of genuine discovery, confidencebuilding, and belonging rather than something simply to be survived. The close-knit scale of the school means that each student is seen,
heard, and known, and strong teacher-family bonds keep everyone focused. Our students are celebrated regularly through weekly gatherings and Commendations, an Honors Convocation, and the support of a faculty team that brings real energy and joy to the business of growing up. At Brimmer, middle school isn’t something to survive. It’s something to look forward to.
The Next Three Years Will Change Everything
in the Best Way Always in Your Corner Every Middle Schooler at Brimmer has a dedicated advisor: a built-in mentor, advocate, and cheerleader, all rolled into one, who meets with them weekly, with plenty of informal check-ins in between. Advisors know their students deeply, stay in close contact with families, and make sure each person feels genuinely seen and supported, academically and beyond.
To learn more about DEIB at Brimmer, scan here.
Celebrating What Makes Our Community Great Brimmer’s diverse community of races, ethnicities, family structures, identities, religions, and countries of origin is one of our greatest strengths. We actively support this through student-led affinity groups, speakers, workshops, and attendance at local and national DEIB conferences focused on identity, equity, and leadership.
Middle school is kind of a crazy time for all of us, but it really didn’t look that way for my daughter. I felt like the door opened to so many new interests and her world got so much bigger… and I know the culture and the faculty at Brimmer had everything to do with it.” Brimmer Grade 8 parent brimmer.org 4|5
Middle School academics
We actually get excited when someone asks a hard question. Now we have a challenge on our hands, and we’re going to get everyone’s brain cells on the case. You can’t learn if your questions stay easy!” Grade 8 student
Asking the Right Questions
Is a Superpower
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he best learning happens when students are given real problems to wrestle with, real teammates to think alongside, and the freedom to follow an idea wherever it leads. Our goal is much deeper than academic preparation: we are educating students who are curious, connected, and genuinely excited about learning. brimmer.org 6|7
middle School Academics
Discovering the Connections Around Us
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n the Middle School, our academic program is built around a deceptively simple idea: the most powerful learning happens when students can see how everything connects. We move beyond siloed subjects to focus on thematic grouping and the interconnectedness of disciplines.
Each student demonstrates their learning through public exhibitions and presentations, which get them comfortable with synthesizing ideas across disciplines, making an argument, and sharing their work with an audience.
STEAM: Getting Ready for a Future We Haven’t Even Imagined Yet In the Middle School, STEAM is woven into the fabric of daily learning. Integrated science classes build a strong foundation across physical sciences, life sciences, and earth sciences, the arts cultivate creative problem-solving and emotional intelligence, and exploration around technology, including hands-on coding, prepares our students for what’s next.
size of an average class in the Middle School, facilitating both individual attention and close collaboration
Academic Supports The Library Learning Commons is a flexible space for research, independent study, and collaboration including: • The Writing Center, staffed by humanities faculty, supports students at every stage of the writing process. • The Math Lab offers daily dropin support with a dedicated Math Specialist who coordinates directly with classroom teachers. • The Learning Center provides faculty-staffed academic support, plus help with organization and study skills, during free periods and study halls.
Peer Tutoring gives students the option of student-led support across subjects. Every student has a Faculty Advisor who meets with them regularly to track progress, set goals, and connect with families. A dedicated Middle School Support Team, led by the Division Head and including the School Psychologist, Director of Academic Services, and Dean of Students, ensures no student falls through the cracks.
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Middle School
grade 6 The Journey Begins Can’t-Miss Moments in the Grade 6 Experience Exploration Week: A full week of workshops and field trips across the Greater Boston area, discovering the world immediately around us. Greekfest: A cross-curricular exhibition uniting art, drama, English, history, and math. Bridge Building: Turning pasta shapes into structures to develop a hands-on understanding of engineering.
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ixth Grade at Brimmer is an invitation to dive in and discover. We know our sixth graders are arriving at the start of a meaningful transition in their lives, and we meet them there with warmth, the right amount of structure, and curiosity that goes two ways: we want to learn about them, and we want them to learn about the world around them. Our goal is to build a solid academic foundation across every discipline while giving each student the tools to understand who they are as learners. Our small class sizes and faculty-to-student ratio give us the time and space to ensure each student is known, supported, and challenged.
In math, they build number sense, algebraic thinking, and problem-solving habits that will carry them through Middle School and beyond. In World Languages, they begin the rewarding work of communicating across cultures, developing both linguistic skills and a broader sense of the world they’re part of. From framing out their first analytical essay, to writing a new line of code in technology to dreaming—and then building— in the Makerspace Club, our sixth graders experience the joy of creation, ideation, investigation, and expression across subjects and disciplines.
with a Deep Dive
This is the age where they’re truly starting to figure out what they’re interested in and what they care about, and it’s incredible to see their passions emerge in the classroom.”
5+ exhibitions each year
Grade 6 teacher
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Middle School
grade 7
The Big Ideas
Can’t-Miss Moments in the Grade 7 Experience Washington, D.C., Trip: A four-day experiential journey tied to the US history curriculum, visiting memorials, museums, the Capitol, and more. Indigenous Societies Exhibition: An interdisciplinary project spanning history, English, art, and science, including original folktale writing. Biomimicry Unit: An inquiry-based exploration of climate change solutions.
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eventh Grade is where our students begin to step into their own as thinkers. Our curriculum invites them to wrestle with big ideas like justice, identity, democracy, and the stories that shape us, across every subject. Our students think like historians, analyzing primary sources and forming their own arguments. They learn how writers develop meaning, and they practice doing it themselves with ideas of their own. In science, they design robots and explore biomimicry as a response to climate change. In math, they tackle
proportional reasoning, geometry, and algebraic thinking in ways that reward both precision and creativity. In world languages, they build real confidence in communication, moving from structured practice toward genuine expression. In the creative arts, they foster improvisation skills, work on drumming, and explore cultural traditions from around the world. We love to see our seventh graders flourish in their growing intellectual depth and confidence, and we’re here to support them in discovering what inspires them the most.
Just Keep Getting Bigger One of the things I look back on and realize now is just how early we were able to become good researchers, writers, and presenters in our own stead. No one was scared to speak up or share an idea.” Alumnus
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Middle School
grade 8 This Is What You’ve Been Training For
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ighth Grade is the time when our students draw on everything they’ve built and use it in meaningful ways. Our curriculum tackles profound questions: How do individuals maintain identity under oppressive regimes? How do communities let injustice happen, and how do they resist that injustice? Our students read Shakespeare; study the Holocaust, the Cultural Revolution, and the British Raj; and write thesisdriven analytical essays that reflect genuine intellectual maturity.
Can’t-Miss Moments in the Grade 8 Experience New York City Trip: A journey bringing together history, science, art, and drama. Grade 8 Honors Program: An optional extension in up to three subjects for students earning B+ or above. Ambassadors for Social Change Project: A culminating assignment where students integrate English, history, and art to profile an important social changemaker.
In math, they develop the abstract reasoning and problem-solving fluency that bridge their concrete foundations to the rigor of Algebra I and beyond. In world languages, they move toward reading and speaking with increasing sophistication. In science, they explore chemistry, energy, and plate tectonics in a cohesive, in-depth, three-year arc that prepares them for the rigor and discovery of the Upper School.
100%
of Grade 8 students participate in public speaking
Inspiration Speeches One of the most distinctive and beloved traditions in the Middle School, Inspiration Speeches allow every eighth grader to research and present on a topic or person that genuinely inspires them. It’s a public speaking experience with real stakes and real reward: students study speech writing, rhetoric, and the art of presentation, and families are invited to attend. For eighth graders moving on to the Upper School, it’s a moment to find their voice, reflect on what matters to them, and share it with their community.
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middle School experiential learning
Beyond the Classroom
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rom the first days of school to a culminating trip to New York City, Middle School students are encouraged to take their learning into the world, building independence, forging deeper connections across subjects, and discovering what it means to be curious, capable, and engaged everywhere they go. Middle School Camp Every year kicks off with two days at camp for students in Grades 6–8. Housed in cabins and guided by Middle School faculty, students get to know their peers and teachers through outdoor activities, ropes course elements, field games, and collaborative challenges.
Community Service Our students take part in Community Service Days throughout the year, working with organizations like Cradles to Crayons to experience the joy of helping others beyond their immediate community.
historic destinations in 4 days on the Grade 7 D.C. trip
Community service helps our students to better understand the world around them. It allows them to envision and contribute to solutions.” Middle School Dean of Students
and Still Very Brimmer
Exploration Week Each spring, Exploration Week gives students a dedicated stretch of time to go deeper. Through experiential learning focused on a particular city or theme, students engage directly with historical, cultural, scientific, and artistic resources. The weeks progress from local Boston-based exploration in Grade 6 to extended travel in Grades 7 and 8 to Washington, D.C., and New York, respectively, preparing students for the kinds of immersive experiences that await them in Upper School.
Outdoor Education One full school day, twice a year, is dedicated to Outdoor Education, bringing the whole Middle School, or individual grades, into the natural world together. Activities have included working on a local farm, doing high ropes courses, and other team-building activities. The program is designed to give students personal and group challenges outside the classroom, develop leadership skills, and provide an alternate arena for appropriate risk-taking—with the natural world as both teacher and backdrop.
Middle School Student Senate Middle School students who want to take an active role in shaping school life can run for Student Senate: an elected body of student leaders that meets weekly with their faculty advisor to discuss school issues, plan events, and bring student ideas and concerns to the table. Senate officers include a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer, plus two representatives from each grade.
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Middle School Creative Arts
Find Your Canvas, Your Stage, and Your Song
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t Brimmer, the Creative Arts are woven into the fabric of Middle School life. Every student in Grades 6–8 takes classes in music, drama, and visual art, and the opportunities to perform, create, and collaborate extend well beyond the classroom. Whether a student discovers a passion for the spotlight, a love of visual storytelling, or the thrill of playing in an ensemble, the Middle School Creative Arts program helps each student find out where their creativity can take them.
The arts are really a part of all the different courses here, but I love the chance to just be purely creative in my visual arts class. I can let my imagination go and see what I can make with my hands that’s only in my head right now.” Grade 7 student
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Middle School Creative Arts
The Spotlight Is Waiting for You
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he creative arts offer our Middle School students a broad range of opportunities to try new things, take risks, express themselves in fresh and even unexpected ways, and build their confidence as artists. Grade 6 and 7 students take visual arts, music, and drama weekly, while Grade 8 students focus on one discipline at a time. Beyond the
classroom, students can join May Chorale or Middle School Band, audition for the Middle School Play or Musical, or take on backstage roles. Our Middle School creative arts schedule is designed so our students can do arts alongside athletics and other activities. At every level and in every discipline, the goal is the same: build your skills, discover your voice, and have fun doing it!
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After School Music Program Brimmer’s After School Music Program offers private instrumental and voice lessons on campus for our Middle School students. The lessons are tailored to each student’s individual interests, age, and goals, and are specifically designed to support students who are working toward participating in the band ensembles, making it a natural complement to the Middle School Band. Our music faculty are highly qualified, with many holding graduate degrees in music, and financial aid is available for eligible families.
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Middle School Co-curriculars
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ur clubs and programs help students find their people, explore new interests, and have a genuinely great time doing it.
Middle School Clubs Our middle schoolers explore a wide range of faculty-advised clubs, but the real spirit of the program is student-driven by design. We encourage our students to develop activities based on their own interests, take on leadership roles, and explore new areas. Past clubs have included:
• Model UN • Debate • Makerspace • Photography • Dance • Chess • Book clubs • Culture clubs
Without a Little (or a Lot) of Fun
Social and Cultural Programs Throughout the year, the Middle School Dean, Student Life Director, and Head of Middle School organize a calendar of chaperoned social events: fun, community building, and always worth looking forward to. These events might include:
• Fall after school social with games and activities • Winter movie or trivia night • Spring Semi-Formal • Cultural Theater Arts outings for each grade
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Middle School Athletics
There’s Never Been a Better Time
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ur Middle School Athletics program is built on a simple but powerful idea: sports teach you things a classroom can’t. Teamwork, resilience, sportsmanship, and the satisfaction of improving from week to week are what keep us coming back to the field. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been competing for years or you’ve never tried out for a team: there’s a place for everyone to get involved.
to Get in the Game
Sports teach you a lot about life: how to work as a team, how to achieve a common goal, how to overcome conflict, and how to deal when life hands you challenges. So much of what we learn on the field can be applied throughout the rest of your life.” Athletic director
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Middle School Athletics
Character and Camaraderie Come First
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ur Athletics program focuses on teaching fundamentals while always making sportsmanship and teamwork our first priority. Brimmer teams compete in the Massachusetts Bay Independent League (MBIL), the Independent Girls Conference (IGC), and the New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), as well as invitational matches.
Athletics participation is structured to grow with our students as they move through grades. Grade 6 students have the option but are not required to play interscholastic sports. Grades 7 and 8 students must play a minimum of one season of a team sport, and if they play only one season, they choose an activity for the other two. Students who play two seasons of a team sport can take one season off.
Middle School Teams Brimmer fields Middle School teams across three seasons: • Boys Soccer • Girls Soccer • Cross Country • Boys Baseball • Girls Basketball • Volleyball • Girls Softball • Ultimate Frisbee Students may also receive Athletics credit for a sport they pursue independently of the School. In addition to our roster of team sports, we keep moving with tennis, strength training and conditioning, skiing and snowboarding, and yoga.
Recreation & Wellness Center Our 26,000 sq. ft. Recreation & Wellness Center provides a dynamic and dedicated home for all of our athletics, recreation, and wellness programs across all divisions, including a college-level competition court, cutting-edge workout facility, and training spaces for all of our student-athletes to become their best.
To see our teams in action and to learn more about our programs, scan here.
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Middle School apply and visit
We Can’t Wait to Meet You!
The best way to discover Brimmer is to come meet us and experience what life looks, sounds, and feels like on campus.
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can to learn more about our admissions process, schedule a campus tour, and begin your application.
If you have any questions or need any additional support to get started, we welcome you to contact our admissions team at admissions@brimmer.org.
middle School
Brimmer At-a-Glance • 400 Total enrollment • 100 Total Middle School enrollment • 12 Average class size • 6:1 Student-faculty ratio • 125 Total faculty/staff • 11 Years average faculty “tenure” • 80% Faculty with advanced degrees • 40% Students of color/international
69 Middlesex Road Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 617-566-7462