Middle School
Middle school is when students start to develop the capacity to apply what they know to what they can do. This happens through challenging coursework in Humanities, Math, Science that involves a mix of skill-building, content knowledge acquisition, and opportunities to apply both to interesting daily assignments, research and hands-on projects, and group work and other collaborative experiences.
Beyond the Core Academic classes, SOF middle school students have an Academic Support Advisory period every day. This is dedicated time to help students learn how to manage their in-school and at-home workload proactively and responsibly.
Enrichment is also key to the SOF middle school experience. All students have Physical Education 2 to 3 times a week. Students take Art, Music, Drama, and Makers Workshop. We also offer instrumental lessons during the Academic Support period. Electives meet 4 times a week. Sixth graders take one quarter of each class. Seventh and 8th graders choose their electives and take two over the course of the year. Seventh and 8th graders take a semester of Spanish and Mandarin each year. Every week, all students have Circles—advisory time when students can share their concerns (person, school-related, current events) and connect as a community within a supportive environment.