Our Middle School program employs the same inquiry-based approach taken in our preschool and lower school programs while recognizing and supporting this age group’s ability to tackle more complex and nuanced work. In addition to an interdisciplinary curriculum that promotes student-centered learning, teachers also emphasize social-emotional skills, independence, and the development of critical-thinking skills. Our graduates advocate for themselves and others, question the world around them, and are able to collaborate with the diverse range of voices that they encounter. During this exciting time of rapid growth, students find their voices as empathetic and active citizens of the world, utilizing their well-developed toolkits as they embark upon study in high school and beyond.
Our sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students explore the following subjects, guided by specialized teachers. Each subject’s curriculum is interdisciplinary, and students gain independence as they transition between academic classes and teachers. Students use Chromebooks and teachers maintain Google Classrooms in order to build technological facility and support growing executive functioning skills.
Curriculum
The Co-op School blends literature, history, writing, and the arts in order to explore and learn about our diverse and ever-evolving world. In sixth grade, we explore World Literature and Cultures, with an emphasis on storytelling and how it shapes identity. In seventh grade, students study works centered around the foundations of democracy and advocacy. In eighth grade, students approach texts through the lenses of justice, change, and leadership. Recent texts include Invisible Man, The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, 1984, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Our Global Studies program explores cultures, ideas, and people of the past and present around the globe. Students develop their abilities to think critically and solve authentic, complex, cross-disciplinary problems.
In 6th grade, students explore geography and are immersed in the rich history and achievements of people from Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia, the Middle East, and Southern Europe.
In 7th grade, students focus on the study of Democracy with an emphasis on citizenship (including rights and responsibilities), federal and state government, civics and economics, voting rights, and political systems around the world. In 8th grade, students examine Reconstruction in the United States, learn how our nation became a world power, and interrogate issues facing our country today.
Our mathematics curriculum focuses on giving students the tools to complete integrated projects, while also encouraging them to see math all around them and establish a positive mathematical mindset. The curriculum also includes an investigative component, allowing students to apply their growing math skills and make further connections to the world. Instead of simply calculating the sides of a triangle using the Pythagorean theorem on paper, students might go to the park and see how the concept is applied to a tree and its shadow. Throughout the year, students build a math portfolio with various types of projects that highlight the new skills they’ve learned.
Following Next Generation standards, this course teaches the nature of science as well as its direct real-world applications. Students learn concepts through active investigations, practices of inquiry, and meaningful problem-solving. In recent years, our 6th graders constructed a hydraulic lift system to explore the properties of the states of matter, 7th graders worked in teams to design a sensory museum exhibit on plant and animal cells, and 8th graders analyzed available data about the carbon footprint of the school, culminating in a proposed plan of action. Engineering challenges in each grade also help students to become adept in the iterative design process.
Students can expect to interact and engage in a variety of multi-sensory activities that develop their communication skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) in Spanish. In conjunction with language acquisition, students will explore historical moments and cultural events of the Spanish-speaking world as they compare and contrast them with their own experiences. To support their acquisition and development of content knowledge, we engage in several field learning labs in NYC. We use a variety of technological platforms such as Google Classroom, Quizlet, Flipgrid, Nearpod, Duolingo, Edpuzzle, and Pixton.
Middle School students attend Health and Wellness one time per week. Over the course of the year, students will complete units on self-care; hygiene, healthy eating habits, and body positivity. They will also learn about digital citizenship and personal digital footprint; while understanding the effects of social media on their physical, mental, and social health.
The goal is to educate middle school students with the most current health information while focusing on practical health skills that young people can use to develop and promote good health and wellness habits throughout their lives. We will use the text: Essential Health Skills for Middle School 3e.
Schedules and Class Structure
Each student is placed into a small, multi-age group with a dedicated advisor who works with them throughout their time in middle school. Together, they develop the tools and strategies needed to navigate both academic and social-emotional issues. Students begin and end the day together as they work on organization, self-advocacy, and study skills. In these gatherings, students and teachers identify goals and challenges, plan for the day, and witness their growth as learners throughout the year. They also have the opportunity to engage in deeper conversations and self-reflection. The advisory program allows students to work on group projects, community building, and activities that are important for social-emotional learning.
Academic support is provided through structured learning lab Study Halls. Teachers work with groups of students on both remediation and enrichment by revisiting topics, talking about them further, and going into greater depth. Students are challenged to identify what they need to work on, while building time-management and study skills.
Homework is most beneficial when it is authentic, meaningful, and engaging. Homework assignments in middle school are an opportunity for reflection and differentiation that helps students understand their own unique responses to the subject matter. With time allotted in the day for Study Hall, students are given one-on-one teacher support which allows them to reach their highest potential.
Deep and meaningful learning includes much more than academic subjects, and through our Specials programs, students explore the world, discover new passions, develop lifelong hobbies and athletic skills, and get lost in the joy of play! Specials include the following programs, with additional programming varying from year to year:
Physical Education: This course expands on the elementary school movement program, and incorporates age-appropriate health concepts.
Music
Creative Making
Reading: Students have dedicated independent reading time each day to foster empathy, connections, and curiosity. They also engage in regular dialogues so that teachers can gauge comprehension and make recommendations.
To make meaningful community contributions, all middle school students meet once a week in groups to learn about identity, diversity, justice, and action through a series of age-appropriate activities based on The Anti-bias Framework. Middle schoolers also help to develop and lead our monthly schoolwide Town Hall Meetings where we focus on The Co-op School’s values.
High School Readiness
In addition to the scheduled meetings below, we also provide office hours for families, one-on-one consultations, and mock interviews with each student, including written and verbal feedback. Our eighth graders also participate in a weekly high school readiness class during the fall semester and engage in essay writing with their learning specialists and ELA teachers. We also provide time and space to attend interviews.
7th-Grade Meetings:
Presummer check-in
Kickoff meeting in September
Q&A with 8th-grade students and families about their experience
Follow-up meeting in late winter
8th-Grade Meetings:
Kickoff Meeting in September
Follow-up Meeting in November
Waitlist & Post-Results Strategies in late winter
Where Our Students Have Been Accepted
| Independent Schools | Public Schools | Parochial Schools |
| Brooklyn Friends | Art & Design High School | Bishop Loughlin |
| Bay Ridge Prep | Beacon High School | La Salle |
| Basis Independent Brooklyn | Bard High School Early College | Saint Saviour High School |
| Packer Collegiate | Benjamin Banneker | Xavier |
| Poly Prep School | Central Park East High School | |
| The Winchendon School | Brooklyn High School of the Arts | |
| Winston Preparatory School | Eleanor Roosevelt High School | |
| Essex Street Academy | ||
| ICE (Institute of Collaborative Education) | ||
| James Madison | ||
| Urban Assembly New York Harbor | ||
| Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design | ||
| The School of the Future | ||
| Edward R Murrow High School | ||
| Brooklyn Tech High School | ||
| Talent Unlimited High School | ||
| Harbor School |
| Independent Schools | Public Schools | Parochial Schools |
| Brooklyn Friends | Art & Design High School | Bishop Loughlin |
| Bay Ridge Prep | Beacon High School | La Salle |
| Basis Independent Brooklyn | Bard High School Early College | Saint Saviour High School |
| Packer Collegiate | Benjamin Banneker | Xavier |
| Poly Prep School | Central Park East High School | |
| The Winchendon School | Brooklyn High School of the Arts | |
| Winston Preparatory School | Eleanor Roosevelt High School | |
| Essex Street Academy | ||
| ICE (Institute of Collaborative Education) | ||
| James Madison | ||
| Urban Assembly New York Harbor | ||
| Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design | ||
| The School of the Future | ||
| Edward R Murrow High School | ||
| Brooklyn Tech High School | ||
| Talent Unlimited High School | ||
| Harbor School |
The Co-op School uses Northwestern Evaluation Association (NWEA) MAP Growth as a part of our assessment process. This adaptive computerized standardized assessment measures growth and proficiency. MAP is used in addition to other formal and informal assessments that take place in the classroom, and results are submitted as part of High School application materials.
We believe that it is important to consider the whole student throughout the assessment process. While testing can provide a “snapshot” view of the moment, it certainly doesn’t showcase a student’s wide-ranging set of strengths and abilities. Assessments do, however, help us to chart student progress over time, pinpoint specific areas of strength and weakness, make needed changes to curricula, and strategize around effective class groupings. Standardized test results are considered as one piece of data along with other performance evaluations, including teacher-made tests, projects, and creative assessments.