Middle School

The philosophy of Sacred Heart education is framed by the assumption that education is transformational because students and educators are engaged in learning for the purpose of coming to self-understanding as those loved by God. Such self-understanding is not possible without intentional formation in critical thinking.  ~ The Network of Sacred Heart Schools

English Language Arts
The English Language Arts curriculum offers a program of sequenced and integrated skills in vocabulary, grammar, writing, speaking, reading, and research. Students learn to write coherent paragraphs, well-developed multiple-paragraph essays, short stories, poems, and literary analysis essays. In Grades 5-8, students engage in research, some of which is coordinated with other academic disciplines. Honing their critical thinking and literary analysis skills, students read short stories, novels, nonfiction, poems. Students develop as communicators and thinkers; they take joy in self-expression and seek to make meaning of their experiences. Through their reading of literature, they make connections between self and the world, seeing their own lives reflected in timeless stories while developing empathy for the experiences of others. 
Year-Long Essential Questions for English Language Arts:

• How does literature help us to understand our world?
• How does literature help us to understand ourselves?
• What are the elements and characteristics of effective written and spoken communication?
• How does studying literature contribute to our understanding of how authors convey meaning about both human nature and the human experience through their writing?

Mathematics
The mathematics program progresses from higher elementary mathematics through pre-algebra to algebra I. The curriculum encompasses comprehension and practical applications, using a variety of hands-on, manipulative resources. Through the study of mathematics, students cultivate a sense of pride, a desire for discovery, skills of cooperation, and joy. Students are challenged to stretch their math knowledge in developmentally appropriate ways. At the conclusion of Grade 8, the School makes a recommendation of the best Grade 9 math course, appropriate for each student.
Year-Long Essential Questions for Mathematics:

• How do I communicate mathematically?
• What are the qualities of effective problem solving in mathematics? 
• Are there patterns in mathematics? What are these - specific to each level?
• What does it mean to reason mathematically?
• How do mistakes help me to succeed?

Performing Arts
The Performing Arts are an integral part of educating the whole child at Stone Ridge. Through vocal/instrumental music, drama, and dance offerings, students celebrate and connect with history, diverse cultures, and their own imagination. Creative expression is encouraged through improvisation and personal interpretation during class and in performance. In addition to musicianship and presentational style, students are challenged to build technique, gain discipline through practice, and strive towards a level of excellence. Formal and informal performance opportunities allow ensemble members to learn life skills and grow in character with enhanced focus, sensitivity, teamwork, listening skills,  balance, self-awareness, respect for the arts and for each other’s work.
Year-Long Essential Questions for Performing Arts:

• Why does music move people?
• How can my performing art be a vehicle for self expression?
• How do the arts preserve history? 
• Do the arts define culture or does culture define the arts?

Physical Education
The Physical Education program helps each student explore and enhance their physical ability while continuing to understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle. In Grade 5, students are exposed to a variety of basic movement to create and develop their physical intelligence, rich with sport specific and non-sport specific units that focus on adaptability, agility, flexibility, strength and power, endurance, rhythmic and synchronized movements, stability, spatial orientation, and reactive ability. In Grades 6-8, students begin early engagement for talent development and may try out and participate in an organized sports team during the fall, winter, and spring seasons. Students who participate on a sports team will not take physical education; they may choose among an array of sports, including: field hockey, soccer, cross country, volleyball, basketball, swimming, track and field, softball, lacrosse, and tennis. This allows students to gain exposure to targeted sports of their choosing. If students in Grades 6-8 elect not to participate on a sports team, they will engage in physical education classes that will explore self-defense, swim aerobics, walking fitness, archery, handball, ultimate frisbee, and frisbee golf. 
Year-Long Essential Questions for Physical Education:

• What are the benefits of physical education?
• Why is it important to move your body?
• How can we stay fit?
• How will being physically active help us now and in the future?

Religion
The religion curriculum in the Middle School presents a comprehensive study of Catholic tradition and doctrine. At every grade level, students develop a scriptural, traditional, and historical Catholic experience. The ongoing presence of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit is acknowledged and celebrated; students actively participate in liturgies. Social Action is an integral part of the academic and spiritual life as well. Students participate in a number of activities that help raise their awareness about the needs of their community and of their world. 
Year-Long Essential Questions for Religion:

• How can understanding the sacraments help me become a kinder sister, daughter, and friend? 
• How does knowledge of the Old Testament help me make good choices in my life today?
• Who is Jesus and how can I follow Him in my daily life?
• How is the Church a mystery?

Science
In science, we cultivate young women, confident in their ability to actively engage in the sciences and challenged to push their limits and encouraged to embrace their mistakes. In this process, each student develops critical thinking skills to analyze and act responsibly in the world around them; this is achieved in the Middle School with emphasis on experiential, hands-on learning. Grade 5 covers a range of scientific disciplines including biological, physical, and earth science, with special emphasis on classifying organisms and allowing students to compare and contrast different animals. Grade 6 encompasses physical science, with focus on the metric system as well as force, speed, energy, motion, momentum, velocity, and acceleration. In Grade 7, students explore life science with concentrations in biology and anatomy, focusing on cell processes, genetics, and organ systems. Finally, in Grade 8, students study earth science, exploring geology, meteorology, and chemistry. 
Year-Long Essential Questions for Science:

• How can we develop scientific habits of mind?
• What does research look like in Grade 5, 6, 7 and 8?
• How can we use evidence-based argumentation to make the case for our ideas?
• How do scientists recognize, describe, appreciate, understand, and organize the diversity of living things?
• What processes shape and change the physical Earth?

Social Studies
The social studies program fosters an environment in which students appreciate, understand, and apply important historical principles to the realities of the modern world. We emphasize the importance of being culturally conscious and socially aware of the past and present on a local, national, and global scale. In order to accomplish this, students are given developmentally appropriate challenges that sharpen their ability to think critically and to evaluate evidence. In the Middle School, social studies encompasses a broad examination of the human condition from the earliest world civilizations to modern societies. Periodically, the focus changes to emphasize particular areas of the world, and research and study skills are reinforced throughout. Students also study people of the world and explore the earth in its variety, learning to how to use geographic tools such as maps, globes, graphs and charts.
Year-Long Essential Questions for Social Studies:

• How does the study of history help us realize that ideas and actions of individuals and groups have consequences and shape events?
• Why do we still study ancient cultures and societies?
• How can you determine if evidence is valid and reasonable?
• How can we, as students, analyze and develop historical perspective on different facets of history, cause and effect, and why they matter now?

Visual Arts
The Visual Arts program encourages students to take creative risks, develop an artistic voice, and practice important problem solving skills. Students explore a wide array of media, including: drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, and mixed media. At times, class projects are cross-curricular in nature with other disciplines to help enforce important concepts. The program also helps students to establish a lifelong commitment to the conversion of social action and the arts through a foundation built on the Goals of Sacred Heart education.
Year-Long Essential Questions for Visual Arts:

• What roles do personal voice and narrative storytelling play in a work of art?
• How is a work of art defined as a portrait?
• What is the goal of portraiture?
• How does cultural context affect a work of art?
• How does art affect change?

World Language
Middle School students have the choice of continuing to study French, if they matriculate from our Lower School, or to begin Spanish in Grade 5. Students are immersed in language and culture and interact with a variety of authentic materials that allow them to demonstrate their mastery in multiple modes of expression. Classes are conducted in the target language, and active student participation is expected as the construction of language is a reciprocal endeavor. Students complete the equivalent of the Upper School Level I of French or Spanish language, by the end of Grade 8.
Year-Long Essential Questions for World Language:

• Why learn a World Language?
• How does my understanding of language and customs impact my growth and understanding of the world?
• How do I learn about culture through language?
• What are benefits to  building interpersonal relationships in the target language both in my community and within the classroom experience?