Educating the Whole Child in the Middle School

Thank you to those of you who were able to attend The Middle School Awards this past Tuesday evening. The number of students involved in extracurricular activities and the diversity of these activities was inspiring. There is no doubt that these opportunities, which challenge students to think and learn in powerful ways, play an important role in helping us to fulfill our mission of educating the whole child. As with all endeavors, these experiences are not without their own obstacles (being over-matched by an opposing team, struggling to get the harmonies just right, having to adapt materials to meet a robotics challenge). However, when we see our students pushing themselves to do their best for themselves and for the team/group, the opportunities for learning are self-evident. These programs also provide students with the opportunity to “bump” into a new passion or to deepen a commitment to an area of interest and strength. Through our extracurricular programs, students with varied prior experiences and abilities regularly come together under the guidance of experienced teacher leaders to support each other as they work to be their best selves. I hope that this year’s Awards Night sparked some new areas of interest for students and faculty alike. I look forward to future evenings where we are able to come together as a community to celebrate this important work.

Following on the heels of Awards Night, we were treated to a preview of this evening’s Spring Concert by the the Little Red Singers, the Little Red Ensemble and the Middle School Jazz band. Click on the player below for some samples of the vocal and musical offerings that we enjoyed.

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