Our Middle School Students, Grades 5-8

Joyful learning and scholastic excellence are distinguishing hallmarks of our Middle School. Under the guidance of inspiring and nurturing faculty, our students regularly engage and grapple with intellectual materials in an environment that is affirming, supportive, and academically rigorous. They explore, query, debate, create, collaborate, write, and think broadly and deeply about subject matter. As our Middle Schoolers develop, they approach academic and social challenges with increasingly strong foundational skills and independence.

JCDS Middle School students enjoy intensive academics and a myriad of activities that enrich them culturally, spiritually, and socially. Our graduates leave us well-rounded, well-grounded young adults, anchored in Jewish identity, knowledgeable, self-confident, and able to make thoughtful decisions.

Structure of the Middle School

5th grade at JCDS is the first year of Middle School. Our students continue to enjoy the benefits of a dedicated teacher/advisor in a largely self-contained classroom, called Kitat Tamar. Their Jewish text study takes on an even more academic character under the guidance of subject-specific instructors, as does some of their secular study, like Science. For Hebrew, fifth graders are divided into three combined grade 5 and 6 classes. The 5th graders are full participants in our extensive Middle School activities and electives.

6th-8th grade students belong to mixed-grade Homeroom Advisory Groups, called אש (Esh), צופית (Tzufit), and צבר (Sabra). Skilled and caring teachers guide the early adolescent students’ social and academic development. Subject-specific teachers provide instruction in the core academic and co-curricular areas. The Learning Center provides appropriate support for individual learners.

T’fillah (Prayer) – Students participate in T’fillah every day. Groupings throughout the week include all-Middle School T’fillah, T’fillah by Advisory Groups, and Minyan Electives which include denominational, conversational, and experiential offerings.

Academic Classes

• English - In Middle School English, students continue to refine the craft of clear writing and thinking, mastering writing conventions along with persuasive and engaging writing. The students read a variety of literature that engages them in thinking about important themes and introduces them to various genres. Often they will compare and contrast themes from Judaic and General Studies texts. For example, they might read “To Kill a Mockingbird” and compare Atticus as a leader to Moses in his struggle to lead. Or they might compare the theme from Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) that for “everything there is a season” to literature that presents a very different overall approach to the world.
• Hebrew - Students continue to advance rapidly in speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Their Hebrew classes are conducted fully in Hebrew, and they read stories, books, and magazines from Israel. They do projects that require them to use their Hebrew in ways that engage them. For example, students may create a website in Hebrew, write their own poetry in Hebrew inspired by their study of Hebrew poets, or perform a play in Hebrew for the lower school. They use the language in authentic ways, taught from authentic Hebrew writings and films that are carefully assembled to promote specific vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension goals.
• History - Our students learn a variety of topics and a clearly articulated set of skills. In Middle School they study Ancient Greece, the rise of democracy, and the history of Civil Rights in the United States. They also study aspects of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and American History. Within these broad topics, they focus on how and why selected events occurred at different times, on the impact of those events, on the reliability of source materials, and on different interpretations and perspectives. They read textbooks, primary sources and historic fiction, and they learn to conduct and write research. Middle School students also focus on the key themes framed by the renowned curriculum of Facing History and Ourselves: how to be an “up stander” and not a by-stander, how to participate responsibly in civic life, how to acknowledge differences and similarities in respectful ways, and how to avoid “we-they” disrespectful ways of looking at the world.
• Math - In today’s world our students need to be creative problem solvers and not just be quick in employing algorithms and in solving calculation problems. We are committed to identifying materials that meet the needs of different learning styles and different levels of math competence and to presenting all students with materials that challenge and deepen their mathematical thinking. Among other topics, our Middle School students engage in algebraic thinking, including algebra as general reasoning, as describing arithmetic situations, and as a way to generalize about relationships. They study spatial relations and geometry, data analysis, and statistics and probability. Students can join our Middle School Math Club and help Lower School student with their math homework in after- school. At all grades, JCDS students score exceptionally well on standardized national math tests.
• Science - Science specialists teach science in the Middle School and engage students in a range of activities, balancing inquiry, discovery, and direct instruction, while covering topics from the biological, physical, earth, and space sciences. Students investigate microorganisms and the creation of star. They learn about the structure of atoms and molecules and experiment with light, sound, and energy and forces. Our students learn that science is a process of asking questions, making observations, collecting data, suggesting answers, and testing hypotheses. Science at JCDS is an active process that requires lab work, reading, conversation, and questioning, all in the pursuit of mastering ideas and information about the world around them.
• Tanakh (Bible) - The Tanakh is our cultural and historic heritage. The study of Tanakh at JCDS is a text and inquiry-based study, developing habits of mind for openness to diverse ideas, creative thinking, and a way of life guided by moral standards in a respectful and diverse learning environment. The students develop familiarity with different Parashanim (interpreters) and study both ancient, Rabbinic, and modern modes of interpretation. In their studies, they gain an understanding of the chronological flow of events and of their significance.
• Toshba (Rabbinic Text and Jewish Tradition) - Toshba classes start in grade 5, and we introduce our students to a long tradition of text-oriented legal and philosophical studies. In these studies, students develop an understanding of the structure and the argumentation of the Mishna and of the Gemara. We also want our students to understand that the Talmud relates to larger ethical, practical, and spiritual concerns, and that, importantly, these studies are relevant to the lives they lead today. JCDS’s pluralist approach fosters students’ skills in considering and discussing respectfully a wide range of viewpoints.

Other Studies and Electives

In addition to the classes noted above, Middle School students also have art and physical education classes and can choose from a wide range of electives, including ceramics, computer graphics, creative movement and yoga, cross country running, musical theater, Israeli dancing, lacrosse, sculpture, and speech team.