Overview
Our Middle School students are valued community members and ambassadors who rise to our level of expectations. In the classroom, on the playing field, or in the school community at large, each student is provided with opportunities to use unique gifts as a leader. Faculty appreciate that students need role models more than they need critics. Old Trail School’s students are supported by teachers who hold them accountable for their behavior and help them solidify their values.
Teachers challenge students to risk, reach and reflect in academic, artistic, and athletic arenas. They learn to take the risks inherent in participation, they learn the need to reach beyond their own scope of vision, and, as they work independently they learn to reflect—that element of the education process which explains, solidifies and integrates new information with that already known.
The Middle School’s advisory program creates deliberate daily interaction with students that encourages advocacy, trust and communication. Honest communication between student, advisor and parent, regarding academic progress, social development and peer interaction contributes to student success as members of the Old Trail School community.
Service, one of the School’s core values, builds student awareness and empathy. Involvement in service efforts establishes positive peer relations while reinforcing our core values: respect, responsibility, service and goodness.
21st century learning relies on technology, instruction, communication and partnerships. Students are taught criteria to evaluate the usefulness and appropriateness of online information. Google apps for Education has given students access their schoolwork from anywhere, to create, edit and share their work. Students are taught the prudence of online safety, privacy and ethics.
Because Old Trail School culminates at the eighth grade, choosing a secondary school provides an opportunity for personal growth and family discovery, which flourishes as a result of family discussions, school visits, entrance exams, interviews and managing the stress of the entire process.