Guiding and caring for students through their transition from childhood to adolescence is a major goal at St. Clement's School. Middle School students gain responsibility, independence, and confidence as they develop personal and academic skills. Challenging experiences help encourage each student's meaningful progression across the fifth through eighth-grade years.
The Middle School academic program is departmentalized. The core curriculum includes academic courses in English, history, mathematics, science, and Spanish. The entire curriculum seeks to develop speaking, writing, critical and creative thinking, and problem solving skills in addition to constructing knowledge in the subject areas. Please see the grade level detail for elective offerings.
Because students need strong bodies to fuel strong minds, all Middle School students have a daily recess period. "Free play and exploration are, historically, the means by which children learn to solve their own problems, control their own lives, develop their own interests, and become competent in pursuit of their own interests." (Gray)
The Middle School implements a block schedule with classes meeting at least three times weekly to encourage the following outcomes:
- Offering quality curricular programs at a less hectic daily pace
- Increasing opportunities for students to discover concepts for themselves
- Broadening teaching assessment strategies
- Increasing interactive, multi-sensory, research-informed learning activities