Middle School (5th - 8th)

Using the Foundation to Launch

At Westfield Friends, students in fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades are fully immersed in the curriculum and routines of the Middle School. The United Nations Sustainability Goals help teachers to build connections across the curriculum. Teachers work extensively with students on organizational skills—from keeping track of daily homework assignments and materials for morning classes to successfully managing and completing longer-term assignments to allocating study time for major tests. Middle School students become more aware of their responsibilities, and the direct outcomes of their actions as they relate to their grades and future aspirations. Our Faculty and Administrators work as partners with the students and their families, helping them to find the right fit for high school choice and assisting throughout the application process.

During fifth and sixth grades, our goal is to increase our children’s sense of purpose, enhance their independent critical thinking, and build their self-confidence. Socially and emotionally, we focus on strengthening their self-image and self-respect, further enhancing their respect for those around them. Students become accustomed to having different teachers for their core subjects.

In seventh and eighth grade, teachers work seamlessly to stimulate the children’s desire to learn, to foster their love of learning, to impart information, and, more importantly, to learn processes that will help them find answers to their questions and communicate their thoughts to others. Students learn to work together as a group, but at the same time are allowed to develop their individual voices. We help students gain new, more sophisticated skills that will allow them to become responsible, independent thinkers and ensure students have the skills that will allow them to successfully enter the high school of their choice.

Challenging academics are at the backbone of preparing our Middle School Students for the high schools of their choice. Our science program is grounded in the Next Generation Science Standards. Each year students rotate through Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering.

In seventh grade, our students take their first year of U.S. History with a focus on justice, equality, and current events, English with a focus on classic literature, Algebra I, Technology, Art, Music, and P.E. Eighth graders move on to their second year of U.S. History with a focus on understanding the US constitution and current events, English with a continued focus on literature, Advanced Algebra topics and/or Geometry, Technology, Art, Music, and P.E.

Westfield Friends provides a differentiated Mathematics education that meets the needs of all learners in the Middle School years. Our graduates demonstrate strong Algebraic foundations that are built upon during high school and college math courses.