Middle School

In Grades 6-8, WIS teachers continue to put an emphasis on inquiry and on helping students make connections with other disciplines and the world beyond the school walls. The Middle School academic program encourages students to explore, to connect, to empathize, and to create.

Middle School students take seven core subjects each year (technology skills are integrated into these courses and enhanced through the 1:1 iPad program) and one elective. The seven core subjects are: English; second language (French or Spanish); mathematics; science; humanities (history and geography combined); physical education/health; and arts (visual art/music). Differentiated instruction takes place in each classroom.

Students entering the Middle School engage in a child-centered, global-minded curriculum that aims to provide the discipline, standards, skills, creativity, and flexibility to aid a student’s growth toward self-awareness, self-reliance, and responsible participation in a diverse society.

WIS has created six curricular blocks to structure overarching learning outcomes within the Middle School (and onward through Grades 9 and 10). These blocks build student capacities in key areas, facilitating their academic, social, and personal growth.

• INQUIRE | Research Skills: developing information and media literacy
• THINK | Thinking Skills: thinking critically, inventing, and transferring
• COMMUNICATE | Communication Skills: exchanging thoughts, messages, and information effectively through interaction
• MAKE | Maker Skills: developing a sensitivity to design, understanding themselves as makers of change
• IMPACT | Social Skills: working empathetically and effectively with others
• GROW | Self-Management Skills: self-regulating and reflecting