Middle School

Academics

Real academic challenge and real academic support

Middle School is a turning point. Students arrive as children and leave ready for the demands of high school. At Highland, that transformation is driven by serious academics, purposeful habits, and faculty who know each student well enough to push them in exactly the right direction.

From Grade 5 through Grade 8, this is where learning stops being something that happens to students and starts being something they take ownership of.

Rigorous programs built for this age

Middle School students are changing fast, emotionally, socially, and intellectually. A great academic program has to meet that reality head-on, not ignore it.

Highland's Middle School delivers a challenging, supportive curriculum designed for the unique needs of Grades 5 through 8. Our teachers use best practices across language arts, social studies, world languages, science, and math to push students forward while keeping them steady. We give each student the right mix of challenge and support with enough rigor to stretch them, enough care to help them flourish.

This is the academic core that families commit to Highland for. And it's built around how middle schoolers actually learn.

Small classes. Big expectations. Real support

During the middle school years, the stakes are rising, and the last thing a student needs is to feel like a number.

Our Middle School runs on a 7:1 student-teacher ratio, with classes averaging just 11 students. That kind of scale changes what's possible in a classroom. Teachers can push harder, support more precisely, and catch a struggle before it becomes a setback. Students can't hide in a crowded room, and they don't need to.

At this age, being truly known by a teacher isn't a bonus. It's the foundation for everything that follows.

Faculty who see what's possible and expect it

In Middle School, the teacher-student relationship does something unique. It isn't just about delivering content or building a foundation for later. It's about meeting students at a moment of enormous personal change and helping them rise to it.

Our faculty understand that educating the whole child means more than just a syllabus. They know that every student develops at their own pace and brings different talents to the table. They teach to those differences while supporting and challenging each student, caring about their success, and helping them discover abilities they didn't know they had.

In a stretch of life full of change, our students have adults who genuinely know them, believe in them, and stay invested in their growth. That relationship is the difference.

Habits of learning: skills outlast any lesson

The future our students are heading into is unpredictable. Many of the jobs they'll one day hold don't exist yet. Memorizing names and dates won't prepare them for that. Learning how to learn will.

That's why every Middle School grade focuses on a specific set of Habits of Learning. These build on each other, year by year, so students leave with the skills to succeed at Highland and well beyond. Click on the expanding boxes below to read more about the Habits of Learning that we focus on by grade level:

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Meet Our Team

List of 2 members.

Sam Stover

Middle School Director
Carla Butler

Assistant to the Middle School Director

Middle School habits of learning:

List of 4 items.

Grade 5: Organization and independence

Grade 5 is the transition year. Students learn that more freedom comes with more responsibility. We help them master the organization needed to keep track of their materials and manage their growing workload.
Grade 6: Personal responsibility

Organization stays in focus, and personal responsibility joins it. We help students drop the excuses that hold learning back and concentrate on what they can do, in any situation, to grow and improve.
Grade 7: Growth Mindset

Drawing on the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, students learn that intelligence isn't fixed. The more they work, the more they grow. That means learning from mistakes, embracing challenges, welcoming feedback, and understanding that "not yet" is very different from "never."
Grade 8: Communication and Upper School readiness

Growth Mindset continues, and communication takes center stage. As leaders of the Middle School, eighth graders learn to advocate for themselves and take charge of their own learning — preparing for the academic and social demands of the Upper School ahead.

Educating the whole child

Strong academics don't happen in isolation. They thrive when a student feels safe trying new roles, exploring new interests, and growing into who they're becoming.

That's the whole-child philosophy at the core of our Middle School. We nurture curiosity, foster moral and ethical responsibility, and help students discover both themselves and their potential. Beyond the core classroom, students explore studio art, chorus, and technology, take part in musicals and plays, and step into leadership through community service, student government, and team sports.

These experiences don't compete with academics, they strengthen them. A student who learns to perform, serve, and lead becomes a more confident, more capable learner in every class and along every step of their own academic journey.

Bridge between Lower and Upper schools

The Middle School has a clear job: take the strong foundation built in the Lower School and prepare students for the rigor of the Upper School.

By Grade 8, our students aren't just older, they're more organized, more responsible, more resilient, and better communicators than the children who entered in Grade 5. They've built real academic habits and real relationships with teachers who've watched them grow. And they walk into the Upper School ready for what's next, both academically and socially.

That readiness is no accident. It's the result of four intentional years.

The Middle School difference

These are the years when students find out what they're made of. When the habits, relationships, and academic character they'll carry into high school and beyond are first forged. At Highland, that process is deliberate, supported, and built around the individual.

Students leave the Middle School more capable, more self-aware, and more prepared for serious academic challenge than when they arrived. The momentum they build here is real and it carries forward.

Come see the turning point

The Middle School is best understood in person. Experience a small class mid-discussion, a student presenting their work, a teacher who clearly knows every name in the room. Come visit, meet our faculty, and see where the real challenge begins.