Middle School Viewbook

Building for Success

Crossroads Academy

6–8 Grades

Middle School Education

CROSSROADS ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM With an intentional focus on integrating content and character, Crossroads maintains a rigorous academic program that prepares students for placement in honors-level courses at area high schools and acceptance to private secondary schools.

We pride ourselves in having a formalized program of character education, including a community service component with local organizations. Outside of academic coursework, middle school students can take advantage of the programs and clubs offered during and after school ranging from history films to math to science research. Students may also participate in national-level exams offered in foreign language, mythology, and mathematics.

“Crossroads is a school that cares about their students and what they become. I never doubt my place in the school, and my class is accepting and wonderful. I am so lucky to have each and every person at Crossroads, whether it be one of our amazing faculty members or a spunky and kind classmate. It is such a unique environment to be in, and I love it more than anything.”

–Eighth Grade Student

“The faculty and staff at Crossroads Academy do a wonderful job at ensuring that kids get a well-rounded school experience. There is a clear focus on academic learning as well as all other areas such as art, health, music, world languages, and mindfulness. It’s so wonderful to have the complex experience of learning addressed from so many different angles!”

–Seventh Grade Parent

CORE KNOWLEDGE AND CORE VIRTUES PROGRAM Core Knowledge and Core Virtues are the pillars of our curriculum.

The Core Knowledge sequence builds a strong foundation of academic fluency in literature, history, math, geography, the arts, and science. Our Core Virtues program cultivates lifelong habits of the heart that enhance our human experience as caring individuals. This combination of knowledge and virtue helps children grow as curious students and kind human beings.

NH Elementary Art Educator of the Year NH Middle School PE Teacher of the Year NH Middle School English Teacher of the Year NH Middle School History Teacher of the Year

ADVANCED CURRICULUM Crossroads teaches advanced reading, writing, and math and enriches these with studies in history, geography, science, literature, art, language, PE, and music. Our teachers infuse Core Virtues into these studies. Students are taught to use their gifts for the good of those around them. A Crossroads education inspires and encourages children and adolescents alike to be kind and well-educated people—to think of others and to act with respect, compassion, and generosity.

AWARD WINNING TEACHERS At Crossroads Academy, we are proud of the diverse range of experiences our faculty bring to their essential work with students.

We place particular emphasis on teacher-student relationships; they are at the center of our school’s culture. We believe that these strong relationships inspire curiosity, encourage academic pursuits, and model positive ways to be in the world.

Our teachers are the heart of the Crossroads experience. They walk with their students along an educational journey, providing support, and inspiring Strong Minds and Kind Hearts along the way.

CO-CURRICULAR INSTRUCTION French, Spanish, Art, Music, Strings, Library, Physical Education, and Coding

Grade Six

Grade Seven

Grade Eight

The Iliad, Aeneas, and Antigone

The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass

Animal Farm, Night, To Kill a Mockingbird

Gulliver’s Travels

Emily Dickinson portfolio project

Close Reading in the Atomic Age

Frankenstein, Flowers for Algernon

Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Graduation Speeches

What is a Hero?

What is Freedom?

What is Justice?

STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES With the arrival of a brand new Fanger Center middle school building, our students can make new discoveries in an advanced science laboratory.

They have break out space for team building, and a platform to practice public speaking and perform their yearly spring musical.

Our treehouse classroom is nestled nearby, providing a space for individualized attention, or even a yoga class! Students can explore 140 acres of our surrounding forest while investigating life in the brook, or learning new skills on our ropes course.

OUTDOOR LEARNING

Treehouse Classroom, Hewes Brook, and the Hoopes Loop Trail

SERVICE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES Students participate in a number of community service projects during their Middle School years at Crossroads. We believe that demonstrating acts of kindness and compassion are necessary when learning what it means to be a responsible citizen of the world.

Community Center

LISTEN

River Valley Club FitKids

Thetford Food Shelf

Lucy Mackenzie Humane Society

Upper Valley Haven

Cedar Circle Farm

Lyme Nursery School

Upper Valley Humane Society

Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD)

SECONDARY SCHOOL PLACEMENT Our Middle School team of educators are committed to helping each and every graduating student to find the best high school to further their academic career.

In the last 10 years, our students have matriculated to the following secondary schools:

NEW HAMPSHIRE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE STEM OPPORTUNITIES Crossroads Academy is proud to host the New Hampshire Academy of Science (NHAS) STEM Center. Its focus is to foster the next generation of STEM leaders by offering programs for students designed and executed by PhD scientists and engineers. The state-of-the art laboratory is equipped with advanced scientific instruments. A STEM Certificate is is now offered for seventh and eighth grade students. Through STEM extracurricular and leadership activities students will have the opportunity to learn directly from NHAS professional scientists ultimately producing a Capstone Project.

Students who wish to further pursue science may attend a NHAS summer program during their graduating year. Upon successful completion, NHAS will grant high school credit in either life science or physical science. NHAS is accredited by the New Hampshire Department of Education under its Learn Everywhere Program.

Groton Academy

Middlesex School

Holderness School

Miss Porter’s School

Kent School

Northfield Mount Hermon

Kimball Union Academy

Phillips Academy Andover

Phillips Exeter Academy St. Paul’s School The Taft School Woodberry Forest School

140 ACRES • 5 ACADEMIC BUILDINGS • 1 STATE-OF-THE-ART SCIENCE LAB

Lyme, New Hampshire

NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY Crossroads Academy admits students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, and gender to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities available to students at the school. Crossroads Academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, or gender in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, or other school-administered programs.

144 SOLAR PANELS • LOCATED 7 MILES FROM DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

BY THE NUMBERS

30

OF 60 RECENT GRADUATES AT HIGHLY SELECTIVE COLLEGES

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE

14

FOUNDED IN

1991 135 STUDENTS ENROLLED

21

FACULTY & STAFF WITH ADVANCED DEGREES

STUDENT: TEACHER RATIO

6:1

Crossroads Academy 95 Dartmouth College Highway • Lyme, New Hampshire 03768 (603) 795-3111 • admissions@crossroadsacademy.org

www.crossroadsacademy.org

“Crossroads students almost invariably demonstrate knowledge of grammatical concepts and literary terms that my other [high school] students do not have when they arrive. In addition, students from Crossroads have strong writing skills and a mature approach to learning. On a daily basis I am impressed not only with what they have already been taught, but with their ability to recall those lessons and use what they have learned. I want to be clear that it isn’t that students who attended [other local schools] show up with any notable deficiencies; on the contrary, they are bright and well prepared, so it is all the more impressive that students who went to Crossroads shine.”

–Local High School Teacher