Welcome to Middle School 

DURWARD BRANDIS Head of Middle School

Students undergo a tremendous change in the years between fourth and ninth grades, perhaps more than during any other four year period in their academic lives. This development is marked by significant cognitive, affective, physical, and social growth. Our goal is to have a Middle School in which grades five through eight are each taught in accordance with the differing needs of each successive age group. These pedagogical differences are articulated in terms of levels of difficulty, expectations of responsibility, and opportunities to exhibit independence. Our purpose is to transform, as smoothly as possible, incoming fifth graders into outgoing ninth graders.

During the first two years in the Middle School, for example, fifth and sixth grade students have the security of homerooms. They have the guidance and protection of a homeroom teacher, who oversees their progress and is the main source of reporting to their parents. Students keep their books and personal belongings in their own desks and cubbies. Yet there are differences between the fifth and sixth grades, as well. In the sixth grade, there is greater independence on long-term assignments, an increased number of exams that are more heavily weighted, and a greater emphasis on science and music.

The seventh and eighth grades are fully departmentalized, with the mentor role played by an advisor. Final exams count more toward the course grade than do the periodic exams in the fifth and sixth grades, although we de-emphasize final exams considerably in the seventh grade compared to eighth grade and the Upper School. Students keep their personal effects in lockers and backpacks and are responsible for getting themselves to and from classes on time and on their own.

Assemblies, field days, and some special events are held for grades five through eight, but social events such as parties and dances are generally separated into grades five/six and seven/eight groupings.

Uniforms are not required in the Middle School, but students are required to adhere to strict dress requirements to avoid creating any interference with effective learning.

All Middle School students participate in an experiential learning trip early in the year. The fifth grade goes to a local camp in the mountains for three days and two nights to learn about Colonial life in conjunction with their social studies curriculum. Sixth graders attend the same camp, but for five days and four nights, with a curricular focus on primitive living skills, which augments their study of early man in their Ancient Civilizations course. The seventh grade camps in primitive conditions on Santa Cruz Island and studies the ocean and the Channel Island environment in conjunction with their science curriculum. The eighth grade spends five days and four nights at Pali Institute in the San Bernardino Mountains studying peer relations, leadership skills, and self-reliance in the outdoors. Both the sixth and eighth grade trips include significant high ropes challenge courses, the latter including both day and night activities.

Finally, the Laguna Blanca Middle School enjoys a very robust advisory program in which the fifth and sixth grade homeroom teachers function as the advisor for students in those grades while the seventh and eighth graders are divided into gender- and grade-specific advisory groups of seven to eight students, each led by like-gendered advisor who is a member of the Middle School faculty or staff. Each of these seventh and eighth grade advisory groups is paired with another advisory group of the opposite gender and the other grade level to form a House, with the fifth and sixth grades comprising one House each. These Houses compete with each other in a number of events (spelling, math, science, and geography “bees;” basketball, kickball, volleyball, and dodge ball tournaments; change and canned food drives; dance and costume contests; etc.) to determine a House champion at the end of the year.

Community service is an important component of a Laguna Blanca education and each advisory group chooses a cause or charity to support and each member of the advisory contributes a minimum of four hours of community service to the chosen cause over the course of the year.