In Middle School English Language Arts, our goal is to help students grow into confident, independent readers and writers who recognize language as a powerful part of their identity and voice. Reading and writing instruction are woven together as students explore diverse literary genres, authors, and perspectives. Throughout their Middle School years, students experiment with a range of writing styles and strategies, from creative storytelling to analytical essays. They learn to read closely, think critically, and engage in meaningful discussions that deepen understanding. Collaboration and feedback are central to our process, as students refine their ability to organize ideas, support arguments with evidence, and communicate with clarity and purpose.

Atrium Middle School mathematics is guided by four essential questions:

• What is math?

• What is the pattern, and how can I represent it?

• How does math connect to the world around me?

• How am I a mathematician?

Students engage in creative, open-ended problem-solving that emphasizes both real-world applications and the beauty of mathematical thinking. Students are not tracked according to their ability levels; all students work at the same grade level on a foundational concept with multiple opportunities for individual challenge and support. This often allows students to surpass the typical Middle School math curriculum, diving into high-school-level skills and concepts by the end of eighth grade.

Middle School science at Atrium is hands-on and engaging, building students’ scientific literacy, inquiry, and communication skills throughout a three-year progression. Students learn to ask testable questions through directed and independent experimentation, using tools and models to investigate and explain scientific phenomena. They collect and analyze real-world datasets, explore local ecosystems, engage in debate, and tackle curiosity-driven engineering challenges. Guided by a focus on sustainability and scientific responsibility, Atrium middle schoolers take an integrated approach to studying Earth science, biology, ecology, chemistry, and physics.

The Middle School social studies program weaves the study of civilizations, governments, and past struggles for justice with the analysis of present-day inequities to help students better understand their responsibility to the world they inherit. The goal of the Atrium social studies program is for graduates to become informed, responsible citizens and positive changemakers. Through lenses of anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, philosophy, psychology, religion, and sociology, middle schoolers deepen their understanding of historic and current events, while reflecting on the individual perspectives they bring.

The Atrium Spanish Language program helps students develop basic communicative competence, instills confidence in them as Spanish speakers, creates a joyful and exciting Spanish learning culture, and develops students’ understanding and appreciation of Spanish-speaking cultures and communities. In Middle School, students spend two Spanish language periods a week using the language in context and engaging with stories, texts, and songs. Classes include practice in all linguistic modes – listening, speaking, reading, writing – as well as targeting grammatical structures.  Whenever possible, instruction is conducted in Spanish. The curriculum includes many speaking games, hands-on projects, and opportunities for increasingly complex conversation throughout the Middle School years.

Three times a year, students take time away from their regular class schedule to dive deep into three content areas, led by expert adjunct faculty: Digital Storytelling, Robotics & Coding, and Food & Community. For two weeks, they spend each morning working in grade-level groups on a specific project tied to these content areas. Students rotate through all three clusters throughout the year. In the afternoons, students participate in interdisciplinary units where two core subject teachers co-teach and guide them through a robust project. Recent examples of these projects include: The Salem Witch Trials Study (Performing Arts and Social Studies), the Islamic Art and Culture Project (Social Studies, ELA, and Math), and the Barbie Bungee project (Math and Science).

Each Middle School student is part of a small advisory group of peers facilitated by a teacher advisor. Students start each day in Advisory, engaging in executive functioning work, get-to-know-you activities, individual goal-setting, group problem-solving, and more. A student’s advisor is their point person; advisors get to know students as learners, social beings, and complex, evolving individuals. The advisory group is like a family within the Middle School, and students remain with their group for all three years, building bonds with the other students across grade levels and growing into a leadership role within the advisory.

Students spend a trimester each in Music, Performing Arts, and Studio Art. This intensive arts rotation allows students to dive more deeply into extended creative projects and pursuits, from creating pieces of Documentary Theatre to designing mixed-media Sound Scarves. In partnership with the Community Music Center of Boston, students explore the creation, composition, and production of music, building on the fundamental theory they learned in earlier grades while expanding their musicality to incorporate new technologies and skills. Performing Arts in the Middle School years emphasizes ensemble, improvisation, and individual storytelling. In the art studio, students explore a variety of media and techniques by studying the works of traditional and contemporary artists, reflecting on the historical and cultural contexts of each piece as they create their own increasingly complex works of art.

During the week, students have one extended double Physical Education period, which allows them to travel out of the building and take advantage of recreation activities and facilities in the community. As part of PE, students participate in local activities such as rock climbing at Central Rock Gym and yoga at Artemis Yoga in Watertown. They also work with our on-site PE teacher for one trimester, developing physical skills, teamwork, and habits of healthy activity. Middle School students go outside twice a day for both snack and recess, giving them additional time to be active, recharge, and engage with our green campus.

Middle School offers a range of exciting after-school co-curricular activities to complement and enrich classroom learning. Each year, students may elect to participate in a variety of options, including Middle School Theatre (featuring a fall play and spring musical), Science Olympiad, Cross Country, Track & Field, and other arts and science-based enrichment groups.