Middle School

EPS Middle School courses are designed to give students opportunities to practice the habits of mind employed in each academic discipline. Critical thinking skills are emphasized. Integration plays an important role in tying ideas together, and teachers collaborate on specific units when it makes sense to do so. Faculty infuse each day in (and out of!) the classroom with enthusiasm and hands-on learning. Where appropriate, coursework is guided by grade-specific Big Questions.

Grade 5: Who Am I?
Grade 6: What Is The World Made Of?
Grade 7: How Did We Get Here?
Grade 8: What Does It Mean To Be Human?

Our courses coordinate not only with interdisciplinary content, but also to teach important skills consistently throughout the Middle School experience. Upon completion students are able to:

Use the academic disciplines as a framework for critical thinking,
Solve complex problems within a variety of disciplines and topics,
Communicate written ideas thoughtfully and creatively,
Confidently present ideas to large and small audiences,
Effectively employ technology to enhance learning,
Lead compassionately as a respectful member of our global community.

Students arrive in the Middle School as children and leave as young adults, having progressed through profound biological, social, and cognitive changes. Our program is effective because it fosters and supports student growth in language use, problem solving, memory development, ethical maturity, and social presence. The ultimate goal of the Middle School Program is to equip students with the necessary academic and social skills for a more robust disciplinary study in the EPS Upper School.

English

The mission of Eastside Preparatory School’s English Discipline is to empower students in self-directed exploration and analysis of literature, writing, and discussion. Our pedagogy is founded in rigorous inquiry, student choice, empathy, creativity, relevance, and play, and we believe in giving students opportunities to make personal connections to literature so they can better understand their own world and how to have agency within it. We proudly commit to standing for the principles of equity, inclusion, representation, diversity, respect, and empowerment.

Middle school students explore what it means to be literary thinkers by focusing on the principal skills of reading, writing, and speaking. Students read a wide range of literary forms and genres, use the writing workshop model to practice writing skills, and share ideas verbally through a variety of discussion techniques. In the Upper School, students continue to build on these skills and processes, and also begin collegiate-level writing and analysis of literature. Across the discipline, students graduate prepared for life-long critical thinking, reading, and writing.

MS Course Requirement (4 years)

Four year-long courses taken in grades 5-8

Fine & Performing Arts

Across the stages and studios of the Fine & Performing Arts, students create a trusted community of friends and learn lifelong lessons of expression, resilience, and collaboration. At EPS, all students are art students. Central to our curriculum in visual art, theatre and music is the artistic process: to create, respond, connect, and present. This learning process is present in other areas of the school as well as life: how to communicate, give and receive feedback, refine work, and present it to an audience. As Arts Faculty, this is our contribution to the mission-driven experience that makes up the EPS education: to think, act, lead and innovate.

MS Course Requirement (10 trimesters)

Grade 5: Three trimesters
Grade 6: Three trimesters
Grade 7: Two trimesters
Grade 8: Two trimesters

Students entering EPS for 5th and 6th grade will take a minimum of two Visual Arts, two Theatre, and two Music courses over their MS career. Students entering as 7th graders must take one course from each Fine & Performing Arts area. Students entering as 8th graders must take one course from two different areas (e.g., one course from Visual Arts and one course from Theatre).

Social Science

At Eastside Preparatory School, a foundation of historical, cultural, ideological, and geographical literacy and the ability to think like a social scientist is fostered through a diverse curriculum and progressive pedagogical methods. A rigorous curriculum employs experiential learning and integrated course work to develop a broad historical perspective and to encourage active and contributing citizenship in a global society. Coursework focuses on critical analysis, effective written and oral communication, and strong research and study skills.

MS Course Requirement (4 years)

Four year-long courses taken in grades 5-8

Mathematics

The purpose of the Math Discipline at Eastside Prep is to equip students with the number sense and problem-solving skills required to succeed in advanced work in math and other disciplines, to be discerning consumers of quantitative information, and put these to practical use in their lives.

This is achieved through a combination of direct instruction and hands-on investigation, stressing process and context as much as solution. Understanding is assessed through the application of knowledge and skills to new contexts, and whenever possible, stress is put on application to the real world.

Prior to enrollment, students are placed at a math level commensurate with their past course experience and current skill level. Placement decisions are based on a placement interview and/or the discretion of the Math Discipline Faculty and the Middle School Head.

MS Course Requirement (4 years)

Four year-long courses taken in grades 5-8

Physical Education

Eastside Prep offers a new perspective on physical education through movement, wellness, and mindfulness. We encourage and inspire students to take responsibility for their own fitness and health. Our priority is to help our students develop life skills for healthy living through individual and group formats including yoga, customize training to maximize performance, and group physical education classes. We believe that team building, mindfulness, improvement of athletic skills and knowledge helps students become more interested in lifelong sports and activities.

MS Course Requirement (9 trimesters)

Grade 5: Year-long
Grade 6: Two trimesters
Grade 7: Two trimesters
Grade 8: Two trimester

Science

The Science Discipline instills in its students a passion for inquiry and an understanding of science as a process. The goal is to produce scientifically literate citizens able to understand, appreciate, and analyze new discoveries. The focus is on the design and implementation of scientific experiments, the scientific approach to problem-solving, and the role of science in society.

MS Course Requirement (4 years)

Four year-long courses taken in grades 5-8
Two trimesters of Environmental Practices, one trimester in grade 7 and one trimester in grade 8

Spanish

All students at Eastside Prep study the Spanish language. Spanish is spoken in more than twenty-three countries, is one of the official languages of the United Nations and is the second most spoken language in the United States.

The goals of the Spanish Program at EPS are: (1) to introduce students to the joy and beauty of world language learning and to help them develop their communicative abilities through the consistent application of the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing; (2) to prepare students to eventually live, work, or study in a Spanish-speaking environment; (3) to prepare students for placement into university-level Spanish classes; (4) to develop intercultural awareness by exploring the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world; (5) and to support our school’s heritage speakers’ unique experiences and needs in our classrooms.

Middle School Spanish students take classes with their grade-level peers until placed in the Upper School program as rising 8th graders.

MS Course Requirement (4 years)

Four year-long courses taken grades 5-8

Does EPS offer only Spanish as a world language? Yes, and proudly! Learn more about our Spanish program in this video: Spanish Program at Eastside Prep

Technology

The technology discipline at EPS seeks to equip students with the skills and ways of thinking necessary to tackle complex problems using technology. We caution against chasing popular trends and instead emphasize the importance of thoughtful and deliberate decision-making keeping the people potentially affected by our designs in mind. With courses for novices through those pursing computer science in college, we place an emphasis on developing code and projects that are easy to change, communicate and contribute to. We encourage students to seek and find their own answers online and in peers, recognizing that keeping pace with technological change requires finding your own answers, reflecting on what you know and continuous learning.

At the heart of our philosophy is student ownership, growth and development. Students are often asked to extend assignments in ways meaningful to them. Determining their own goals and meeting them internalizes concepts in ways that a rubric cannot. Taken together, this inspires students to create a better world through solving problems with the increasing power of the tools available to them.

MS Course Requirement (3 trimesters)

Three trimesters taken in grades 6- 8

Courses

Grade 6: Botz – An intro to computer programming through robotics
Grade 7: Make – An intro to our Design Lab tools (3D Printers, Laser Cutters, microcontrollers)
Grade 8: Web – An intro to web design

Academics

Middle School