Middle Schoolers launched the year with orientation, transforming their hopes and dreams into community commitments centered on self-awareness, focus, and responsibility. They built connections in advisory, sparked joy in the Middle School Olympics, and celebrated the new friendships already beginning to grow.
The start of a new school year feels crisp, clean, and fresh. It holds opportunities for new friendships, new projects, and new commitments. Middle School participated in “Middle School Orientation” on Wednesday and Thursday this week. During this time, students learned some logistical necessities for how we do things at The Cooper School Middle School, they also got to pitch their hopes and dreams about this new school year. These hopes and dreams turned into goals, which turned into “community commitments” that help us support and achieve our goals! Persistent themes for those commitments included being self-aware, locked-in (adult definition: focused), and responsible.
Students were able to develop a home-base in their advisory classes this week; they learned about one another, decided how they will show up to school each day, and even competed in the Middle School Olympics (a series of silly games that are meant to spark joy and laughter).
When students leave each day, we gather together and celebrate the friendships we see beginning to blossom, express excitement to get into content and begin some projects, and pinch ourselves that we are lucky enough to teach your children.
Looking ahead to next week, we’ll launch our executive function class. This dedicated time will help students master their planners and connect them with tools like Google Classroom and Google Calendar. They’ll practice mapping out long-term plans for studying, writing, and project work, and even dedicate a day to tidying and organizing backpacks, lockers, and binders. We’re excited to see the ownership and independence these skills will foster in our Middle Schoolers.
