Where our students are transformed
Sixth through eighth grades at The Miami Valley School are the essential bridge years in a child’s transition from lower school to upper school. Recognizing the significant social, physical, emotional, and academic development that takes place in the early adolescent years, the middle school program is geared towards helping each student successfully navigate these integral years on both an academic and a social-emotional level. The middle school program is designed with the school’s mission of developing “self-sustaining learners and compassionate global citizens” in mind.
On an academic level, 6th-8th grade students benefit from a child-focused curriculum that is exploratory in nature and focuses on the cultivation of skills and executive function. Academic subjects take both a linear (world language, math) and exposure/coverage (social science, science, English) approach with respect to curriculum. The block schedule enhances the division’s commitment to the immersion method that, in addition to promoting a curriculum that is student-centered, allows students to collaborate, practice critical thinking skills, and explore subjects in cross-curricular ways. In short, the middle school at MVS helps each student develop a diverse and flexible skill set in preparation for not only high school, but also an ever-changing professional world. In addition to the traditional subjects (English, mathematics, science, social science, and world language), middle school students take courses in visual art, performing art, computer science/makerspace, and technology. The academic program is supported by the work of a learning support coordinator, as well as a study hall period at the end of the day when each teacher is available for individual help.
Social-emotional development is an essential part of the middle school program at MVS. Advisory groups of 8-10 students with regular meetings provide each student an opportunity to discuss the academic, social, and developmental challenges of early adolescent life. Sixth grade advisory groups are separate while 7th & 8th graders are combined in advisory groups, allowing students and teachers to develop rapport over the course of two years. The school’s character values of integrity, celebration, grit, and kindness are reinforced through the advisory program and through the morning community meeting at the start of each day. While academic growth & development is central to the middle school’s mission, so is the development of each child’s character and values.
A wide variety of extra-curricular activities in the middle school reinforces the school’s mission and provides students with opportunities to gain confidence, develop interpersonal and collaborative skills, and cultivate the sense of self that is integral to early adolescent growth. These opportunities include clubs (academic quiz bowl, Lego league, power of the pen, mathcounts, etc.), performing arts (plays, musicals, jazz band, choir, improv, etc.), and interscholastic athletics (soccer, basketball, lacrosse, track & field, tennis, golf, etc.).
In living out the Here, we become ethos of The Miami Valley School, the bridge years of 6th-8th grades are central to each student laying the foundation towards what they will become in the future. With a combination of rigorous and engaging academic courses, a focus on social-emotional growth, and a variety of extra-curricular opportunities to explore, students are well-positioned for success in upper school, college, and beyond.
Sixth Grade
Curriculum
Once our students get to sixth grade, they are more than ready for the exciting new learning experiences and challenges that lie ahead. Sixth grade is one of the more transformative years at MVS. It is a time of great growth—academically, socially, and emotionally. Our students are given more freedom to explore their passions with additional co-curricular and athletics offerings, and electives. They have more leadership opportunities and more avenues to build community with a diverse age group. New responsibilities, classes and immersive learning opportunities await our students in sixth grade.
In sixth-grade English, students develop reading, composition, grammar and vocabulary skills. By focusing on class discussions of group novels and a variety of writing assignments, the student projects cultivate the practice of writing well and developing ideas. Students learn to appreciate different genres, apply numerous reading strategies, and write in a variety of modes to develop effective writing, speaking and listening skills.
It’s more than just climates and cultures in sixth-grade world geography. In middle school, world geography is inter-disciplinary in its scope, and students explore the regions throughout the world through geography, history, math, science and economics. With a project-based curriculum, students are given immersive learning assignments where they are able to build their skills, reflect mastery of content and even accelerate their own learning. Students will dive deep into content, analyzing the efforts of agriculture and resource management, discovering how culture and conditions co-evolved, and evaluating the relationship between geography and economics.
In pre-algebra, students are introduced to the language and reasoning of algebra while reinforcing the rational number operations—particularly with decimals and fractions, order of operations, ratios and proportions, percents, number properties, exponents, geometric figures, areas, and volumes. They begin the study of algebra with the following topics:operations with positive and negative numbers, , evaluating and simplification of expressions, multi- step equations, linear equations with coordinate graphing, one and two variable inequalities, and systems of equations. Additional topics include introduction to probability, basic trigonometry, and the introduction to radicals.
Sixth-grade science continues to foster the importance of inquiry to prepare our students for the 21st century. This course is activity and experiment-based, combining a variety of scientific sub-disciplines in the areas of life, physical, and earth science. Students will build upon skills developed in lower school as well as cultivate new ways of viewing the world around them. Skills emphasized include observation, inference, scientific modeling, collaboration, critical and creating thinking, problem-solving, and decision making.
After having chosen a specific language to study in their later lower school years, students are now introduced to the French language and take three languages in sixth grade: French, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. These quarter-long exploratory courses inform our students which language they would like to commit to for continued study in middle school.
Each middle school visual arts course is a three year, semester long journey, with an emphasis on problem solving through the art making process. Students have the opportunity to explore a wide range of two and three-dimensional media. Artists, art in society, and art history are discussed as they relate to what the students are discovering in their personal work. Students are taught to recognize the elements of design, and through both private and group critiques, learn to communicate their ideas successfully.
Choosing from courses in jazz band, choir, strings, and pop a cappella, middle school students participate in performing arts year-round.
Physical education courses are designed to provide students an opportunity to experience a variety of team sports, team building activities and fitness exercises. The following areas are emphasized: developing skills that improve one’s strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, and speed; understanding the rules and regulations that govern each sport through participation in a variety of modified drills and games; understanding basic forms of team play and strategy; exhibiting sportsmanlike behavior; and developing team skills.
Through a variety of projects, students are engaged in interactive thinking, creative thinking, and critical thinking. They collaborate on solving complex problems through being able to persevere, critique, and revise. Students use maker tools such as screwdrivers, hammers, saws, drills, irons, sewing machines, 3D Printers, etc. Projects involve analysis of sensor data such as temperature probes, moisture sensors, light sensors, infrared sensors, and motion sensors. Computer programming is implemented in block, Scratch and Python languages with tools such as Little Bits, MakeyMakey, Sphero BOLT robots, and microcontroller “Breakout boards” such as Intel Galileo and Raspberry Pi.
Seventh Grade
Curriculum
The seventh grade curriculum continues the emphasis of hands-on activities and authentic problem-solving experiences introduced in sixth grade. With the Immersion Method driving as a foundation, students have increased opportunities to learn by doing. Some examples include lab-based science courses, improv comedy class, pop a cappella, modern languages and environmental greenhouse work through human ecology.
Seventh-grade English introduces studies to the major concepts of literary analysis and lays a strong foundation for their future academic careers. With a focus on four major genres: long fiction, short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction/memoir, students are exposed to a variety of writing styles. Short stories, poems, and nonfiction pieces are integrated throughout the year when developing writing, grammar and vocabulary skills.
From studying world geography in sixth grade, students focus on ancient cultures in seventh grade, examining the economic and cultural patterns of people who lived in the past, from our earliest ancestors to the Romans. With an emphasis on ancient Greece and Egypt, students gain a strong understanding of past cultural traditions, rituals, civilizations and myths. Regular discussions of current events have a place in this course, along with extensive research projects.
At MVS, we find as many opportunities as possible to differentiate instruction; one of these is through various math courses. In seventh grade, students are placed into pre-algebra, algebra I, linear algebra or quadratic algebra.
Pre-algebra
In pre-algebra, students are introduced to the language and reasoning of algebra while reinforcing the rational number operations—particularly with decimals and fractions, order of operations, ratios and proportions, percents, number properties, exponents, geometric figures, areas, and volumes. They begin the study of algebra with the following topics:operations with positive and negative numbers, , evaluating and simplification of expressions, multi- step equations, linear equations with coordinate graphing, one and two variable inequalities, and systems of equations. Additional topics include introduction to probability, basic trigonometry, and the introduction to radicals.
Linear
Linear algebra, the transition course from pre-algebra, takes students through the exploration of single-variable equations and two-variable equations to systems of equations. Students study how to isolate variables as well as change equations into slope-intercept, standard, and point-slope forms. They will graph equations, inequalities, and systems to discover one solution, no solutions or infinite solutions. Solving systems by substitution and elimination follows. Finally, students work with rational expressions, story/analytical problem solving, and enrichment exercises. Quadratic algebra follows Linear algebra.
Quadratic
Quadratic algebra, the course which follows linear algebra, allows students to explore quadratic functions, radical functions, and statistics. Multiplying and factoring polynomials sets the foundation for quadratic functions. Students first learn to graph quadratic equations using the axis of symmetry, vertex, and a table. Factoring, completing the square, and the quadratic formula methods are examined in-depth as additional options in searching for solutions. Students work simultaneously with story/analytical problem solving and enrichment exercises.
Full Year
Algebra I is the foundation for all other courses in mathematics. It supplies the language and patterns of reasoning needed for other branches of mathematics. Topics to be studied in depth are the real number system, axioms, equations, inequalities, polynomials, exponents, linear equations with coordinate graphing, systems of linear equalities, rational and radical algebraic expressions, radicals or roots, and quadratic equations.
Once students get to middle school, they participate in daily science labs. In seventh grade, students learn about genetics, respiration, reproduction, photosynthesis and more. They participate in dissections and complete daily lab reports. Advanced science tools and a real lab setting allows our students to apply the Scientific Method.
After having taken French, Mandarin and Spanish in sixth grade, students now choose one language to pursue for the remaining two years of their time in middle school. The seventh and eighth grade language courses is one high school course that is divided into two years: Language 1A (for seventh grade) and Language 1B (for eighth grade). By the time students leave middle school and enter high school, they have completed one full year of a high-school level language course. In Language 1A—during seventh grade—students build a strong knowledge of the target language and are ready to apply it in basic conversational and writing skills. In addition to speaking, reading, writing and listening in the target language, classes include cultural immersion and activities.
Each middle school visual arts course is a three year, semester long journey, with an emphasis on problem solving through the art making process. Students have the opportunity to explore a wide range of two and three-dimensional media. Artists, art in society, and art history are discussed as they relate to what the students are discovering in their personal work. Students are taught to recognize the elements of design, and through both private and group critiques, learn to communicate their ideas successfully.
Choosing from courses in jazz band, choir, strings, and pop a cappella, middle school students participate in performing arts year-round. In addition to music electives, students have the option to take an improv comedy class. The improv course focuses on the basics of improvisational theatre and comedic acting. Students learn how to create compelling characters and relationships, work as a team to engage the audience, and listen and react in the moment.
Physical education courses are designed to provide students an opportunity to experience a variety of team sports, team building activities and fitness exercises. The following areas are emphasized: developing skills that improve one’s strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, and speed; understanding the rules and regulations that govern each sport through participation in a variety of modified drills and games; understanding basic forms of team play and strategy; exhibiting sportsmanlike behavior; and developing team skills.
Through a variety of projects, students are engaged in interactive thinking, creative thinking, and critical thinking. They collaborate on solving complex problems through being able to persevere, critique, and revise. Students use maker tools such as screwdrivers, hammers, saws, drills, irons, sewing machines, 3D Printers, etc. Projects involve analysis of sensor data such as temperature probes, moisture sensors, light sensors, infrared sensors, and motion sensors. Computer programming is implemented in block, Scratch and Python languages with tools such as Little Bits, MakeyMakey, Sphero BOLT robots, and microcontroller “Breakout boards” such as Intel Galileo and Raspberry Pi.
Eighth Grade
Curriculum
The eighth grade curriculum continues the emphasis of immersive learning, authentic problem-solving, and critical and creative thinking. Students are given more responsibility, more leadership opportunities and more class offerings to choose from. By the time students leave middle school, they are ready for the academic rigors that await them in the upper school.
In eighth-grade English, students will develop proficiency in several areas: literature, composition, grammar and vocabulary. This course builds on the variety of skills learned in sixth- and seventh-grade English and aims to hone and perfect them as we prepare our students for the rigors of the upper school English curriculum. Theme, classic novels, short stories, poems and nonfiction works weave their way into the curriculum to create a comprehensive eighth-grade English learning experience.
From world geography in sixth grade and ancient cultures in seventh grade, students move to focusing on American history in eighth-grade social science. American history is a survey course about the history of our nation from its founding days through the present, examining the growth of our nation by looking at the diversity of the people who settled here, the adversity they faced, our coming of age as a nation, and our role in the world today. Some areas of emphasis include the Spanish-American War, the role of manifest destiny and American imperialism, the Roaring Twenties, the Holocaust, as well as an in-depth look at the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, including exploration of Supreme Court cases and Constitutional issues, and the electoral process.
Speech and debate is offered to eighth-grade students only. Students practice and hone their public speaking skills. They quickly learn how to speak comfortably, concisely, and well. Research and synthesis help students debate more effectively—they learn how to make a claim, support their opinions, and avoid logical fallacies. In addition, this course focuses on three major presentation styles: informative, dispositional, and actuation.
At MVS, we find as many opportunities as possible to differentiate instruction; one of these is through various math courses. In eighth grade, students are placed into pre-algebra, algebra I, linear algebra or quadratic algebra.
Pre-algebra
In pre-algebra, students are introduced to the language and reasoning of algebra while reinforcing the rational number operations—particularly with decimals and fractions, order of operations, ratios and proportions, percents, number properties, exponents, geometric figures, areas, and volumes. They begin the study of algebra with the following topics:operations with positive and negative numbers, , evaluating and simplification of expressions, multi- step equations, linear equations with coordinate graphing, one and two variable inequalities, and systems of equations. Additional topics include introduction to probability, basic trigonometry, and the introduction to radicals.
Linear
Linear algebra, the transition course from pre-algebra, takes students through the exploration of single-variable equations and two-variable equations to systems of equations. Students study how to isolate variables as well as change equations into slope-intercept, standard, and point-slope forms. They will graph equations, inequalities, and systems to discover one solution, no solutions or infinite solutions. Solving systems by substitution and elimination follows. Finally, students work with rational expressions, story/analytical problem solving, and enrichment exercises. Quadratic algebra follows Linear algebra.
Quadratic
Quadratic algebra, the course which follows linear algebra, allows students to explore quadratic functions, radical functions, and statistics. Multiplying and factoring polynomials sets the foundation for quadratic functions. Students first learn to graph quadratic equations using the axis of symmetry, vertex, and a table. Factoring, completing the square, and the quadratic formula methods are examined in-depth as additional options in searching for solutions. Students work simultaneously with story/analytical problem solving and enrichment exercises.
Full Year
Algebra I is the foundation for all other courses in mathematics. It supplies the language and patterns of reasoning needed for other branches of mathematics. Topics to be studied in depth are the real number system, axioms, equations, inequalities, polynomials, exponents, linear equations with coordinate graphing, systems of linear equalities, rational and radical algebraic expressions, radicals or roots, and quadratic equations.
Students continue the study of science with daily labs and experiments. In eighth grade, they focus on scientific graphic, patterns, the structure and interaction of matter, investigating unknown substances and classifying elements and their properties. Advanced science tools and a real lab setting allows our students to apply the Scientific Method. Project based learning is utilized as students learn about topics in physics and forensics.
In eighth grade, students continue their second year of studying a chosen language: French, Mandarin or Spanish. The seventh and eighth grade language courses is one high school course that is divided into two years: Language 1A (for seventh grade) and Language 1B (for eighth grade). By the time students leave middle school and enter high school, they have completed one full year of a high-school level language course. In addition to speaking, reading, writing and listening in the target language, classes include cultural immersion and activities.
Each middle school visual arts course is a three year, semester long journey, with an emphasis on problem solving through the art making process. Students have the opportunity to explore a wide range of two and three-dimensional media. Artists, art in society, and art history are discussed as they relate to what the students are discovering in their personal work. Students are taught to recognize the elements of design, and through both private and group critiques, learn to communicate their ideas successfully.
Choosing from courses in jazz band, choir, strings, and pop a cappella, middle school students participate in performing arts year-round. In addition to music electives, students have the option to take an improv comedy class (open to seventh and eighth graders). The improv course focuses on the basics of improvisational theatre and comedic acting. Students learn how to create compelling characters and relationships, work as a team to engage the audience, and listen and react in the moment.
Physical education courses are designed to provide students an opportunity to experience a variety of team sports, team building activities and fitness exercises. The following areas are emphasized: developing skills that improve one’s strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, and speed; understanding the rules and regulations that govern each sport through participation in a variety of modified drills and games; understanding basic forms of team play and strategy; exhibiting sportsmanlike behavior; and developing team skills.
Geometry Full Year
Prerequisite: Algebra I and Departmental Recommendation
This accelerated and enriched course places emphasis on developing critical thinking skills. Geometric concepts are studied in depth as deductive reasoning is developed. Students with a strong aptitude for mathematics and with a high motivation for analytical thinking are invited to participate in this course. Theorems, postulates, corollaries, and definitions set the foundation for solving for missing information as well as completing proofs. Setting up and planning proofs is a focus throughout this course. Other topics include triangles, quadrilaterals, circles, polygons, solids, volume, surface area, and more.
Text: Geometry (McDougal Littell: Jurgensen, Ray C., Brown, Richard G., and Jurgensen, John W.)
Through a variety of projects, students are engaged in interactive thinking, creative thinking, and critical thinking. They collaborate on solving complex problems through being able to persevere, critique, and revise. Students use maker tools such as screwdrivers, hammers, saws, drills, irons, sewing machines, 3D Printers, etc. Projects involve analysis of sensor data such as temperature probes, moisture sensors, light sensors, infrared sensors, and motion sensors. Computer programming is implemented in block, Scratch and Python languages with tools such as Little Bits, MakeyMakey, Sphero BOLT robots, and microcontroller “Breakout boards” such as Intel Galileo and Raspberry Pi.
Middle School
Mike Boyer
Director of Middle School
Kathy Kissinger
Middle School Administrative Assistant
Adam Betzelberger
Mathematics
Anna Gerhardinger
Mathematics
Stephen Fout
Social Science
Eric Kissinger
Social Science
Linda Hallinan
Computer Science and Makerspace
Jason Oliver
Community Technology Facilitator
Maureen Conroy
Spanish
Ping Gao
Mandarin
Laurine Ferreira
Middle School French
Patti DeLotell
Director of the Zorniger Environmental Lab
Bradley Cooper
Improv
Christopher Diaz
Choral Ensembles
Holly Stolz
Library and Media
Mario Carrillo
Athletic Director
Marvin Hernandez
Physical Education
Sean Dwyer
Physical Education
Kara Peterson
Counselor
Zoe Paraskevopoulos
Learning Support Program Coordinator
“MVS gave me the meaning of true friends and a supportive community to pursue my passion for music. Nurturing my passion at MVS helped me choose my college and shape my future.”
Adele Taylor, Class of 2017
Experience
The Miami Valley School
The Miami Valley School aims to positively impact the future by inspiring and empowering the community to achieve more through immersive education that creates exceptional human beings.
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