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The Middle School (Grades 6-7)

“Autonomy and support are the words that describes the Middle School educational program. With autonomy comes resilience, as boys experience success, make mistakes, and learn from each type of experience in a safe place with adults who celebrate who middle school boys are.”

Patricia McCarthy
Head of the Middle School
English and Social Studies Teacher

The Middle School program supports boys’ growing ability to make independent decisions. They choose a foreign language to study for the remainder of their time at Fenn for and the sports they will play each season. As they make these choices, boys develop criteria for decision making, and it also gives them more freedom to move about the campus. Fenn is one of the best boys preparatory schools in New England, where boys can learn about the world as they experience it.

 

The curriculum becomes more challenging and rigorous. Social studies teachers, for example, hold Socratic seminars in which boys discuss important historical questions. After preparation, they contribute their thoughts on topics such as “What failures occurred during Reconstruction that made the Civil Rights movement necessary?”

 

Each boy has an advisor who is also one of his teachers. In morning homeroom his advisor helps him get ready for the day. Students return to advisor groups during Help and Work, a quiet time for homework, reading, or consulting a teacher. Each boy’s teachers, advisor, and division head are in frequent communication with each other and his parents. Academic and behavior grades give students information on how well they are doing as learners.