Middle School
Signature Experiences
Explore your world
There are so many things that make the PCDS Middle School unique, impactful, and unforgettable. Our students' rate their relationships with their amazing faculty and peers atop the list of most beloved Middle School experiences, along with their class trips, opportunities to explore, and academic growth.
Here is just a sampling of some of the many experiences that make the PCDS Middle School special:
Class Trips
Each year, Middle School grades take a class trip, ranging from a leadership-building day trip in the fifth grade, to overnight trips to Northern Arizona, Boston, and Catalina Island in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade respectively. These trips are tied to coursework, and allow students the opportunity to bond as a class and see the impact of their learning in the world around them.
Electives
Each trimester, Middle School students choose nonacademic elective classes that meet once per week in a multi-age setting, allowing for greater exposure and learning of a topic not typically incorporated to schools. Recent favorite Middle School electives have included building RC race cars, making coil pottery, Lego Robotics, and playing League of Legends. These classes are ungraded, and create connections across grade levels for students and faculty alike.
Community Connections
Each year, Middle School students put down their class books and engage in meaningful and impactful acts of community service and community relationship-building. Students and faculty volunteer with St. Mary's Food Bank, Feed My Starving Children, Children's First Academy, and more to support those who need it and expose our students to the challenges of the outside world. Ongoing, meaningful follow-up with the organizations continues throughout the year, ensuring PCDS Middle School students can understand the impact of their volunteer work.
Grade-Level Projects
Across disciplines and grade levels, Middle School students appreciate and fondly remember the many seminal class projects that bolster their learning. The 5th Grade Magazine Project, for example, is a months-long interdisciplinary project involving writing, research, reading, and art to produce a biographical magazine on a historical figure. Similarly fantastic projects occur each year, from 6th Grade Ted Talks, to the 7th Grade Bridge Project, to the 8th Grade Speeches, that both further students' learning and awareness of self.
