One class, 3 members of staff, multiple outside experts
School Day: 8am – 3:15pm (includes extracurricular)
The aim of the Adolescent plane is to produce adults who are equipped with the confidence in themselves with actual skills to live in the real world.
Maria Montessori believed that the young adolescent is ready to learn more about the world and how he/she fits into his/her community; therefore, the three guiding questions: “Who am I? Where do I fit into society? How can I be of use?”
To help young adolescents find the answers to these questions, the original Montessori Middle School model was established where adolescents lived on a farm with a few adults serving as directors. They learned how to form part of society by learning about what society is formed of within this community, and learning academic concepts through a theme-based, hands on approach.
It is within this context that the Newberry House Middle School has been established. We may not have a boarding house (yet!), but we instill the same principles; for example, through mutually prepared lunch and other aspects of hospitality that are vital to social and emotional development.
We also follow a theme-based learning approach where students learn academic concepts through hands-on tasks mapped against the Cambridge curriculum for various subjects (e.g. photosynthesis is covered through the gardening module).