MIDDLE SCHOOL ACADEMIC GUIDE
T
he Masters School is a coed day and boarding school that engages fifth through twelfth grade students in a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum. Founded in 1877, Masters is located on a picturesque 96-acre campus in historic Dobbs Ferry, New York, just 12 miles from Manhattan.
Masters arms students from around the globe with the complex skills required to succeed in a complex world. Masters guides students to be intellectually capable and curious, humane and respectful of other people, individuals of integrity and character, and to be a power for good in the world. By enriching minds in and beyond the classroom, students are prepared for achievement in college, career and life.
A MESSAGE FROM TASHA The Middle School at Masters provides a tremendous learning experience. The academic program is engaging, exciting, and challenging, pushing young people to stretch their talents and intellect. Our educational philosophy sets us apart from other schools. Fifth grade boys and girls learn together in small groups, while grades six through eight learn in single-gender classes. Throughout all four years in the Middle School, students participate in hands-on projects and intensive class discussions that help build critical and creative thinking skills. Our exceptional teachers also distinguish us. They genuinely enjoy working with adolescents and utilize teaching techniques and curricula that are particularly successful with middle school students. You can learn much about our faculty and our program in this guide, or by visiting our school to watch learning in progress.
Tasha Elsbach
Head of Middle School
NOW IS THE TIME
ADVISORY
At each grade level, faculty members work in teams to implement a comprehensive academic program around a central theme. This helps students recognize the context and relevance of what they’re learning and greatly enriches their learning experience.
BENEFITING BOYS AND GIRLS
Our Middle School children in grades five through eight participate in a learning experience that enables them to reach their full and unique potential. The fifth grade provides a highly interactive coeducational learning experience; grades six through eight are taught in single-gender classrooms—an optimal learning environment for middle school children.
EXPERIENCED-BASED LEARNING
The Masters curriculum capitalizes upon every stage of a middle school student’s development. Each year is framed by a scholastic theme, and within that theme, the curriculum is customized for the ages and stages of the children in the class. We enrich the learning with relevant real-world experiences; and to this end, we frequently take advantage of our proximity to New York and our location in the Hudson River Valley. Every engaging, hands-on lesson builds on the ones before it; each topic is connected to others. The result is an education that is rich, intertwined, and pertinent and students who are thoroughly absorbed in their learning.
All Middle School students are matched with a faculty advisor at the beginning of every academic year. The advisor—usually a grade-level teacher—advocates on behalf of students as they navigate academic and social challenges. In small groups, advisors discuss issues related to friendship, leadership, stewardship, self-image, popular media, and decision-making. Consistent with our single-gender learning model, the advisory program is led by the Dean for Girls and Dean for Boys.
Clinical research reveals that boys and girls learn in unique ways. Masters instituted its research-based design of coeducation in fifth grade and then single gender classes in grades sixth through eighth because the pronounced developmental differences in middle school years present often unrecognized educational opportunities. Single-gender learning has many benefits. Not only can lessons be customized to appeal specifically to boys or girls, but since students are less likely to put on a “public face,” teachers can better understand and cater to their individual learning styles. Also, because girls and boys feel equally valued, their confidence grows. The children will tell you that because they get to spend informal times together—recess, lunch, and allschool activities—they get the best of both worlds.
HUMANITIES : ENGLISH & HISTORY English and history stand at the center of our rigorous interdisciplinary humanities curriculum. These two subjects are linked thematically, with each grade level focusing on a specific topic or concept. Short- and long-term interactive and interdisciplinary projects challenge students at each level. As students progress through the Middle School they continue to strengthen skills and acquire new ones. In English, they advance in reading comprehension, writing, literary analysis, speech, and grammar. In history, they learn how to think critically about past events and analyze the relationship between cause and effect while refining their research skills and organizational abilities. Students also develop note-taking skills and become adept users of primary and secondary sources, library and information technology, the Internet, and resources outside of school.
FIFTH GRADE
Fifth graders focus on Egypt and Greece, looking at the physical, spiritual, and reasoning qualities that define and shape humanity. The literature they read is thematically related to their social studies, allowing them to make important connections and improving their comprehension and literary analysis skills. In ongoing writing workshops, students complete a series of creative writing projects that develop individual skills and writing styles, which they employ in their yearlong opera project. Beyond improving grammar, vocabulary, and the mechanics of writing, fifth graders participate in discussions and debates. They have significant long-term projects, which require ongoing organization and synthesis.
SIXTH GRADE
Since The Masters School is located above the Hudson River, it makes sense that the sixth grade English and history curriculum uses the river and region as its theme. Students explore American history through the lens of the people and events that shaped the Hudson River Valley, examining how the valley both affected and reflected the development of the United States. Frequent trips to nearby historical sites augment classroom learning. English class incorporates literature from the region, enhancing students’ understanding of the area’s history and introducing them to its rich literary tradition. Students read a variety of literary genres from different eras and write both creative and analytical compositions. They also participate in regular writing workshops, building a strong foundation in the fundamentals of grammar. By working on group and individual projects, students continue to hone their research skills, learn techniques for effective collaboration, and develop proficiency in public speaking.
SEVENTH GRADE
Seventh grade study revolves around the theme of diversity and identity. Students learn about United States immigration, explore their own family histories, examine and connect with other cultures through literary analysis and historical research, and discover the social factors behind our identities. They use and analyze news media to explore relevant social issues and step out of the classroom to explore what the world has to offer—particularly New York City. As they expand their views of the world, our seventh graders continue to strengthen their skills in grammar, reading comprehension, research, and studying. The curriculum emphasizes writing and critical thinking skills and strategies necessary for success in the Harkness classrooms of the Upper School.
EIGHTH GRADE Building on the interdisciplinary coursework of the sixth and seventh grade curriculum, eighth grade English and history examine American identity. Engaging hearts and minds alike, the English curriculum focuses on issues of justice and morality, especially as these themes pertain to adolescence and coming of age. The class gives special attention to writing: both creative, through the use of reaction sheets and writers workshop, and expository, typically discussing a book read together by the class. Further, the class emphasizes analytical reasoning, close reading skills, and oral presentation through daily discussion. Eighth grade history explores the formation and evolution of American identity over the last 500 years. In particular, the class considers various facets of freedom and the benefits and burdens it implies. Considerable attention is given to Constitutional issues and the duties of citizens. At the same time, economic interpretations of history are given substantial weight. Several times during the course of the year students participate in historical simulations, immersing themselves in critical historical moments such as the Constitutional Convention.
MATHEMATICS The Middle School math program enables students to solidify and expand their skill base while challenging them with projects that connect math to their world. During class, experiential and exploratory activities foster open communication. The class discusses different problem-solving strategies, with each unique learner contributing ideas and putting them into practice. This cooperative atmosphere encourages students to share ideas openly and to propose solutions. By solving application problems, students connect concepts to the “real” world. They become strong problem-solvers and critical thinkers, gaining confidence in their mathematical abilities. In addition, technology serves as a vital component of the math curriculum, enhancing the learning experience and providing additional challenges for students.
FIFTH GRADE
Fifth grade mathematics challenges students to strengthen skills and integrate their understanding of whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percents by solving investigative problems. The children explore measurement and coordinate geometry, and they work cooperatively to design creative solutions to complex problems. Manipulatives give them a concrete understanding of the topics, preparing them to use these concepts in their lives.
SIXTH GRADE
Students in the sixth grade explore concepts in geometry, fractions, decimals, ratio, proportion, percent, perimeter, and area. The curriculum “spirals,” continually reinforcing each skill so that students make connections between topics as they reinforce their understanding of concepts. The curriculum places a strong emphasis on computational accuracy. Students complete critical-thinking projects using statistics and apply their new skills throughout the year. Classes are grouped by ability based on the results of a placement test. Advanced students will cover content at a faster pace, including exploration of elements of pre-algebra.
SEVENTH & EIGHTH GRADE
All students have the opportunity to place into a mathematics course that provides them with the most appropriate challenge. Course type and level vary depending on the results of placement tests, but students can expect to be placed into basic or advanced pre-algebra, or basic or advanced algebra. The most advanced students will be considered for geometry. All sections are single-gender. Specific content and pace will vary, but all courses are designed around the New York State and national curricular standards.
SCIENCE The Middle School science program achieves two primary goals. First, we give students a working knowledge of the scientific method as a systematic approach to problem-solving. And second, we help them develop connections between what they learn in the classroom and their lives beyond it. We take a discovery approach to learning because students learn best when they uncover relationships and ideas for themselves. In the laboratory we stress objectivity in observation, accuracy in data gathering and recording, and analysis and presentation of data.
FIFTH GRADE
The fifth grade curriculum concentrates on six major topics: astronomy, weather, sound, light, the sun and moon, and botany. Each is addressed with an interdisciplinary approach and a foundation in the scientific method of inquiry. Students learn cooperative and individual laboratory behavior, scientific dialogue and discussion skills, data analysis, and the ability to formulate conclusions and associations based on their observations. Each student is given an opportunity to demonstrate understanding of material through both constructed research assignments and performance-based assessments. Students are encouraged to share prior knowledge and ideas as they expand their investigation and critical thinking skills necessary for further studies of science.
SIXTH GRADE
The sixth grade science course focuses primarily on Earth science. The students begin by examining the structure, properties, and states of Earth’s water and look at how water is responsible for altering Earth’s land surfaces. They also explore how water can be used as an alternative energy resource. Next, students investigate the key characteristics of Earth’s interior, focusing on rocks and minerals and how they make up the different features found on our planet. The children analyze the ideas of continental drift, sea-floor spreading, and plate tectonics; determine how and why the continents have changed positions throughout history; and learn how plate movement relates to earthquakes and volcanoes. During the spring the curriculum shifts to life science, integrating and supporting the students’ work in humanities. Students learn how to classify the Hudson River’s planktonic, nektonic, and benthic organisms into their respective taxonomic categories. They explore the energy flow in Hudson River ecosystems and the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers. Finally, students examine the human impact on the Hudson River ecology.
SEVENTH GRADE
In seventh grade, students gain a detailed understanding of living systems. They build on basic principles by exploring cell structure and function, cell processes and energy, cellular organization, and change as a result of the transmission of genetic information from generation to generation. They explore the history of biological thought and the evidence that supports it, providing the foundation for investigating biochemical life processes, cellular organization, mechanisms of inheritance, and the change in organisms over time. Students also learn human biology, studying bones, muscles, skin, digestion, circulation, respiration, excretion, the nervous system, the endocrine system, and reproduction. They conduct laboratory experiments, write formal reports, and develop skills including organization and mathematical analysis of data, manipulating variables in experimentation, and identifying sources of experimental error.
EIGHTH GRADE
Eighth grade science is a skills-based course designed to prepare students for the advanced science courses they will take in the Upper School. With an emphasis on developing understanding through investigation and critical thinking, students work with the equipment and tools that are found in high school science labs. Students cultivate their scientific literacy, learn to make conclusions based on evidence and data, and work on developing metacognitive skills. Cooperative group work as well as active learning experiences are keystones of this course. Some of the topics are scientific measurements, properties of matter, energy, electricity, magnetism, forces, motion, gravity, simple machines, and conservation of mass and energy.
MODERN & CLASSICAL LANGUAGES The Middle School language program is a four-year experience introducing students to the fundamentals of language learning and helping them build a strong foundation in two languages.
FIFTH GRADE
This year is an exploratory experience of our three modern languages – a lively trimester each of French, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. The emphasis in these classes is on usable proficiency, even on a small scale, and the learning is activitybased. The course gives students a sense of what it would be like to study any one of the three as their modern language for the following three years.
SIXTH GRADE
This is the first year of the three-year classical/modern twolanguage program. Because we believe Latin is invaluable for the study of all language, and speaking a modern language is essential to global citizenship, our sixth, seventh and eighth graders study Latin and one of our three moderns. In a twoweek cycle, our students have five sessions each of Latin and their modern (one week, e.g., Latin x 3 and French x 2, the next week vice-versa), with Latin supporting their language study skills no matter what the modern is.
LATIN IA
This course introduces Latin vocabulary and grammar with emphasis on elements found in modern languages, as well as those reflected in the English curriculum, we explore these concepts through rich discussions about Roman culture, including city life, society, gladiators, and slavery. While the immediate goal is reading ability in Latin, the ultimate objective is to improve students’ ability to acquire any foreign language, ancient or modern.
FRENCH / MANDARIN CHINESE / SPANISH 1A
Theses courses emphasize self-expression and cultural insight primarily through listening and speaking (and singing!), and secondarily through reading and writing. The content draws heavily on study of the cultures and traditions of the peoples who speak the target language.
SEVENTH & EIGHTH GRADES
These courses, 1B and 1C, renew emphasis on listening and speaking skills in the moderns, and deepen emphasis on reading and writing in all four languages. Along with language, students pursue deeper and richer study of the histories, cultures, and traditions of speakers of their languages. By the end of eighth grade, students will have had the equivalent of Upper School Latin 1 and French 1, Mandarin Chinese 1, or Spanish 1, and be prepared to continue in level two of both languages in ninth grade.
MUSIC Integral to the interdisciplinary curriculum, the music program ties into established themes in conjunction with the other classes. Students learn to read and notate music; to listen to, analyze, and describe music; and to evaluate music. Most importantly, students develop an ability to utilize music to understand themselves and others, which builds a deeper level of empathy for fellow human beings.
FIFTH GRADE
Students complete a basic unit of study on music theory including note-writing and reading, key signatures, and time signatures. Students explore basic keyboard and computer composition and participate in an experiential study of opera. This study culminates in a project in which students write and perform an original opera.
SIXTH GRADE
Sixth graders start the year with a review of basic music theory. Later they explore folk music, particularly that of the Hudson River Valley, and examine societal, political, and cultural influences on music. A group project creates a cycle of five folk songs describing colonial life in the Hudson River Valley. The year concludes with a personal music history project about music influential in the students’ lifetime.
SEVENTH GRADE
In conjunction with the seventh grade curricular theme of diversity, this year covers world music history, featuring analysis of multicultural music through listening, game songs, folk dance, and discussions. Students learn about music from Africa, Central and South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Asia. A final project investigates each student’s musical heritage.
EIGHTH GRADE
Eighth graders study American popular music styles including film scores, musical theater, folk, bluegrass, country, blues, jazz, rock, and rap. They complete two interdisciplinary projects: a visual poem of Philadelphia and another visual essay combining humanities, art, and music classes. The year ends with two comprehensive projects, one of which is the production of an Arts Expo with original songs written and performed by student bands.
VISUAL ARTS The Middle School visual arts program provides a creative environment in which students explore visual communication in two- and three-dimensional forms. They gain hands-on experience with a broad range of materials and techniques while working on projects designed to develop craft as well as cognitive skills related to thematic grade-level investigations. Students work in a variety of artistic disciplines including drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture; and they learn and use the elements and principles of design as they explore their creative potential. The children keep art journals to monitor their progress throughout the year, and assessments are based on effort rather than ability level. Our goal is for our visual arts students to develop and expand their artistic voice while gaining a better understanding of self and their relationship and responsibility to the world community.
FIFTH GRADE
Students visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art to explore the ancient Egyptian and Greek Halls. A yearlong collaborative project incorporates visual art with history and creative writing. Students write scripts on ancient cultures in their humanities classes and transform their scripts into an opera in music class. In their visual arts class, they create rod puppets of their characters as well as backdrops and props, and they rehearse their performance. At the end of the school year, the students put on their original opera for their parents.
SIXTH GRADE
To enhance their focus on the Hudson River Valley, students study the Hudson River School of Art. They create their own watercolor landscapes inspired from photos from their field trips. Other projects include the creation of a hand-sewn quilt while studying American folk art, and designing a presentation for a site-specific sculpture at the Dobbs Ferry Waterfront Park.
SEVENTH GRADE
The seventh grade students are given the opportunity to work with the upper school art instructors as well as the middle school art teacher. They explore artistic disciplines including foundation drawing, ceramics, and digital photography. Tied in with their ongoing investigation of identity and diversity, students write an artist statement explaining the artistic choices they make in relation to their chosen essential question.
EIGHTH GRADE
Armed with digital cameras, the students explore Philadelphia and other historic sites by taking a series of images with thoughtful content and composition in a triptych format. Back in the classroom they create a thirty-second presentation using their photos and original music they produce in their music classes. In their humanities classes, they write artist statements to explain their work as it relates to their yearlong theme of American identity. The year culminates with the students curating and displaying their own visual artworks in the Eighth Grade Arts Expo.
TECHNOLOGY Our student-centered and faculty-enabled classrooms provide ideal opportunities for us to explore, consider, and understand new ideas. Our students are actively nudged and prodded into making finer distinctions about our world, and their place in it. These many discoveries are supported by our dynamic classrooms that contain the full palette of assistive technologies. Like daubs of paint on a hand-held artist board, we have carefully assembled a wide spectrum of best-of-breed technologies to assist our incredible teachers in their classroom activities – and to support the diversity of our multicultural and international student body. While walking through our beautiful WiFi-enabled campus, you might see one classroom using laptops to shoot and edit video, while another is using a computer lab to study simulations of stars colliding with each other. And then the classroom down the hall might be using their interactive Smartboard to talk about game theory as a new model for student learning. Each classroom is different, and each is a fun and exciting journey for its students to learn and grow. In fact, what you will see as you peek behind each door is a new tribe of young learners fully conversant with using the many digital tools in their tool belts. We live in a whole new world, tasked with preparing our young students for a future we know will be vastly different than our past. To fulfill this obligation we focus on using technologies to teach valuable 21st century skills such as digital literacy, change leadership, and the ability to innovate and create world-wide solutions. Our many classroom technologies both broaden and deepen our student’s blossoming understanding of the world and our academic subjects such as math, science and history. We also use technologies to strengthen and support each student’s artistic creativity and can-do spirit. In fact, it is the purposeful dovetailing of student creativity and technology that empowers them to find their unique voices, and give their passions a mode of expression.
COMPUTER FACILITIES
The School’s computer facilities are spread out across the many academic buildings at Masters. The primary goal is to encourage the use of technology by providing students with easy, walk-in access to computers and by allowing for classes to use computers in a laboratory setting. The Middle School building is equipped with two PC workstations and printers, two mobile carts with MacBooks, and a Smartboard in every classroom. Morris Hall, the Science and Technology Center, contains a dedicated computer lab with 18 individual PC workstations with widescreen monitors, laser printers and scanners, as well as a mobile cart with 18 MacBooks for classroom and lab use. The Technology Department is on the first floor of Morris Hall, and tech support walk-ins are welcome any weekday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Strayer Hall has 12 Macs configured with a full suite of audio production tools and dedicated equipment, consisting of electric pianos, midi boxes, and a central control unit for instructor/student collaboration. Wireless access is provided to all students, with access points located strategically throughout the school and dorms. The Library catalog, Follett Destiny, and Internet reference sources are accessible school-wide from all networked computers.
ATHLETICS & P.E. Athletics are an important part of the Middle School experience at Masters. We believe that the benefits of physical education are incalculable, and many of them last a lifetime. Certainly, middle school children need an outlet for their abundant energy, but a strong athletics program also teaches teamwork, strategy, self-control, and good sportsmanship. Our campus facilities include six expansive playing fields for lacrosse, soccer, baseball, field hockey, and softball, a competition track, eight tennis courts, a gymnasium for basketball and volleyball, an outdoor basketball court, and fencing strips.
FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE
Physical education class is required for all fifth and sixth grade students and is included during the school day. The students participate in a variety of games and physical activities to develop basic athletic skills and to experience the joy of playing.
SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADE
Interscholastic team sports begin in grades seven and eight. Practices are held during the school day and games are played after school. Students may also take dance to satisfy the athletic requirement. The following team sports are offered each year.
Baseball Basketball Cross Country Dance Fencing Field Hockey
Indoor Track Lacrosse Soccer Softball Track and Field Volleyball
THE MASTERS SCHOOL | 49 CLINTON AVENUE, DOBBS FERRY, NY 10522 | MASTERSNY.ORG P: 914.479.6420 | F: 914.693.7295 | ADMISSION@MASTERSNY.ORG