Middle School Information

CBMS has opened its first adolescent community, or middle school, for 7th and 8th graders. This community focuses on developing personal identity and the intellect, expressing oneself, building community, relating to peers and adults, serving others, developing business skills, participating in the adult world, assuming responsibility and working.

The community offers a low student to teacher ratio with two, NAMTA trained middle school instructors. One instructor specializes in the areas of math and science and the other instructor specializes in the humanities.

The CBMS middle school students will complete and master the following subject areas during a two-year cycle:

Humanities

Western Civilization: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Medieval Europe, The Renaissance, World Colonialism, The Industrial Revolution, The Scientific Revolution, The 20th Century (Particular emphasis will be placed on major changes and contributions of economic, political, religious, and cultural systems.)

American History: US Nationhood, Native North Americans, US Westward Expansion, US Slavery/Civil War, US Immigration, US Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, US Popular Culture

Literature: There will be seven literary discussion groups during a school year. These discussions will include classic and modern short stories, novels, biographies and autobiographies, plays and poetry. The assignments will often reflect the humanities subjects currently under study. Written, critical analyses and reviews of the literature are expected.

Writing Skills: Building upon the strong base of language skills developed using the Montessori materials, middle school students will improve their writing skills by learning to write with different goals such as critical analysis, storytelling, poetry factual reporting, technical writing, editorializing, etc.

Humanities Projects: In addition to the lecture driven studies above, the students will work in groups to complete four humanities projects each year. The project themes will develop from classical civilizations, societies in transition, or the age of science and technology.

Math and Science

Math: Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II (theoretical and applied)

Science: Earth Science, Physical Science, Biology, and Physics

Occupation Projects: In addition to the lecture driven studies above, the students will work in groups to complete four occupations projects each year. The project themes will develop from an animal focus, plant focus, chemistry component, or physics component.

Micro-economy

The middle school will develop its own micro-economy. For example, the students may decide to operate a school store. They are then responsible for the product selection, location, marketing, price determination, scheduling, financial reporting and accountability.

Specials

The middle school students will continue their instruction in Spanish, art and music.
Furthermore, workshops will be offered utilizing experts from our community. Examples
of these workshops include drama, creative writing, computer skills, current events, etc.
CBMS has entered into an agreement with the Central Educational Center (CEC) to
utilize their facilities and staff for our program.

Class Trips

In the spring of each year, the middle school students will plan and organize a class trip to a destination (possibly international) where study will focus on the humanities or occupation project themes of the cycle.

This is a rather rigorous course of study and mastery. In fact, the school day will be longer for the middle school students (8:00 am – 3:30 pm). However, as in all Montessori programs, we will follow the needs of the student. If the student needs review, that is how the student will be directed. If the student has a particular area of interest and expertise, this is where the student will be directed.