| Our middle school encompasses grades six through eight and focuses on the learning needs of early adolescents. Emphasis is placed on academic success and acquisition of basic skills. Throughout the middle school years, students are supported in thedevelopment of their life-long learning and coping skills. The middle school program in Danvers utilizes the interdisciplinary team approach at each grade level. The staff is listed in teams at grade levels in this handbook so that you know how the instruction is organized. Three, four or five teachers instruct all the students in all the major curricular areas each day. The team of teachers serves the same group of students and therefore learns more about them, in order to share and teach more effectively. Students on a specific team work exclusively with those teachers for all of the major subject areas. They also pursue exploratory courses, such as art, computers, health, public speaking / drama, music, physical education, and technology education, as well as world languages, with students from other teams. A middle school provides less structure than an elementary school, but more than a high school, for students at that “in-between age”. The purpose behind this team structure is to promote communication, coordination, and cooperation among subject area specialists. Students benefit from instruction planned by specialists who work together to downplay the overly subject-centered emphasis for the students. Excellence can and should be achieved by integrating the subject areas for all students. |
