About Moses Brown School Founded in 1784, MB has been a leader in education for over 235 years. We have a proven tradition of academic excellence, a commitment to great teaching, and a dedication to fostering character and confidence in young people. Our stunning 33-acre campus—formerly the farm of 18th-century Quaker abolitionist leader Moses Brown—provides expansive academic, artistic, and athletic facilities right in the heart of Providence. We are a Quaker school, one of the oldest and largest of a network of 80 Friends schools in the U.S. While each is independent, we all share the same essential mission: to nurture and celebrate each child’s special gifts, talents, and identities—what Quakers refer to as their Inner Light. At MB, we offer an incredibly varied and rigorous program, including 17 musical and performance groups across the school, 50 clubs and activities, and 61 athletic teams competing in 16 different sports. Upper school students choose from among two dozen AP and honors courses. And while individual achievement is prized at MB, we also foster a close sense of community, evident in collaborative relationships between students and teachers and in our weekly meeting for worship. At Moses Brown, 111 faculty members serve roughly 740 boys and girls ages 3-18, with a student-to-teacher ratio of 8:1. With $5.2 million awarded annually in need-based financial aid, Moses Brown partners with many families to make a shared investment in bright, caring, and thoughtful children from all socioeconomic backgrounds. And with 28% of our student body being people of color, our community matches the demographics of our drawing area.
2 | Moses Brown School
What is Quaker Education? Moses Brown is a Quaker school.
Quakerism holds that there is an Inner Light in each of us. This belief yields a deep commitment to equality and community, and people of all faiths find resonance in the core human values at the center of Friends (Quaker) education and practice. During our weekly Meeting for Worship—30 minutes of silent reflection—students are encouraged to find their voice and share their own truths with the community. Because our world needs ethical leadership, our mission as a Friends school is to provide the rising generation with an ethical core, an unshakable foundation of integrity that fosters respect, non-violent resolution of conflict, and the desire to make a positive difference in the world. Moses Brown uses these strengths to instill academic excellence and a bold sense of purpose in learning.
In an educational setting this means three things: Everyone matters. Quaker pedagogy insists that we care for each other as a community, hearing and respecting everyone’s voice, and making sure that school is a safe place for every child. Silence matters. A practice of reflection and inquiry is essential to living a life of meaning and purpose. In a busy world, these skills are often overlooked. At Moses Brown, we all make time to reflect, to be thoughtful, and to ask probing questions. Truth matters. For more than two centuries, MB has fostered in students a foundation of personal integrity and respect for others, including the non-violent resolution of conflict and a desire to make a positive difference in the world. Moses Brown School | 3
Admission Process
Thank you for your interest in Moses Brown School! We are pleased to offer you an opportunity to examine in detail our excellent academic and co-curricular programs. At the heart of Moses Brown are our Quaker values, which help not only drive a world-class academic program but also help each student develop a high level of character in preparation for life beyond MB. As we help you understand all that Moses Brown offers, we look forward to learning more about you. Please take advantage of the many opportunities there are to become better acquainted. After all, Moses Brown School is distinct because of our community; get to know us and you will see just how wonderful MB truly is. Please submit an online application to our Admission Office before scheduling your child’s visit. Find our application and forms at: mosesbrown.org > admissions admission deadline: february 1 notification date: march 1
Lower School Forms:
Transcript Release Teacher Recommendation Parent/Guardian Statement Campus Visits & Testing Parent visit with an admission representative: Approximately 45 minutes, and will be scheduled during the school day. Student visit: A skills evaluation will be completed at Moses Brown School during the applicant’s campus visit. To schedule a visit, please contact: Denise Winston dwinston@mosesbrown.org 401-831-7350 ext. 221
Middle and Upper School Forms:
Transcript Release Teacher Recommendations Parent/Guardian Statement Student Statement Campus Visits & Testing Parent visit with an admission representative: Approximately one hour, and will be scheduled during the school day. Student visit and interview: All students applying will be scheduled to visit for an academic day. Testing: Students are required to take either the Secondary School Entrance Exam (SSAT) or the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE). To schedule a visit, please contact: Jennifer Maloof jmaloof@mosesbrown.org 401-831-7350 ext. 116
Admissions Team Hugh Madden ’84, Director of Admission & Financial Aid hmadden@mosesbrown.org Bobbi Krein, Director of Enrollment Management bkrein@mosesbrown.org Jeff d’Entremont, Dean of LS Admission & Student Life jdentremont@mosesbrown.org Jen Maloof, Office Coordinator jmaloof@mosesbrown.org 4 | Moses Brown School
Maria Fugere, Admission Coordinator mfugere@mosesbrown.org Denise Winston, Administrative Assistant dwinston@mosesbrown.org Hilary Major, Admission Associate hmajor@mosesbrown.org
Tuition & Financial Aid
With $5.2 million awarded annually in need-based financial aid, more than a third of Moses Brown students receive financial aid support. We believe that a community works best when it includes a diversity of talents and attributes, including socio-economic, gender, cultural, and racial diversity.
2019-2020 TUITION Nursery & Pre-primary: $17,430 Grades Kindergarten’—5: $33,240 Grades 6’—8: $37,100 Grades 9’—12: $37,865
No candidate should be deterred from applying based on finances. The financial aid program is designed to establish the strongest student body for the academic program we offer, and to enhance the educational experience of all students. A student’s financial need is defined as the difference between Moses Brown’s tuition and an estimate of what the student’s family can reasonably contribute for education. Regardless of the student’s talent and attributes, a candidate’s eligibility for scholarship funding is based on family income. To determine the most equitable estimate of family contribution, Moses Brown–like many peer schools– uses the services of the School and Student Service (SSS), which computes an estimated family contribution using a family’s gross income, assets and liabilities, as well as taxes, educational expenses of other children, unusual debts, and medical expenses. The results of this computation are then used by Moses Brown School’s Financial Aid Committee as a guide for determining the amount of the award. Fill out this form to help us determine your eligibility: solutionsbysss.com/parents/apply.
HOW TO COMPLETE THE PARENTS’ FINANCIAL STATEMENT (PFS) 1. Beginning November 1, 2019, go to solutionsbysss.com/ parents/apply. 2. Create your PFS Online account. If you applied for financial aid last year, simply login to the PFS Online as a Returning Family, using the email address and password you set up last year. 3. Begin a PFS for Academic Year 2020-21. You can log out of the PFS Online at any time, then return later to complete it. 4. After you have pressed submit, you’ll be brought to a payment screen. The fee of $47 is nonrefundable. Once submitted, it cannot be withdrawn from the SSS system. 5. About 24 hours after you pay for and submit your PFS, you’ll have access on the PFS Online to a section called “Manage Documents.”
Key information to complete the PFS: Our school’s full name: Moses Brown School SSS code: 5206 Contact info for our financial aid office: Hugh Madden, Dir. of Financial Aid Due date for completing the PFS and additional forms: December 31, 2019 Documents we require you to submit in addition to the PFS: 2018 & 2019 Federal Tax Returns w/W2’s Business or Farm Statement if you own your own business HOW TO SUBMIT REQUIRED DOCUMENTS ONLINE 1. Prepare your documents to be uploaded. Make sure documents are each saved as a separate file on your computer. Remove any security or password protection from your pdfs. 2. Return to the PFS Online and login. 3. Select the Academic Year 2020-21 button. 4. From your PFS Online Dashboard, click on the “Manage Documents” tab. Under “Upload Documents,” click “Browse,” then locate the document on your computer. 5. Click “Upload Documents.” Once you have uploaded a document, it can take up to 48 hours for it to be received and validated. If you have questions about financial aid, please contact Hugh Madden, Director of Admission and Financial Aid
Moses Brown School | 5
Frequently Asked Questions How many students attend Moses Brown?
How do I apply for financial aid?
The lower school has 175 students in grades N-5; Middle school has 155 students in 6-8; Upper school has 410 students in 9-12.
Moses Brown partners with School and Student Services (SSS) to assist in our financial aid process. We recommend that you review the wide range of materials that SSS offers to help families with the financial aid process at www.solutionsbysss.com. To begin your financial aid application, you will complete SSS’s Parents’ Financial Statement (PFS). One of the most important aspects of the financial aid application is meeting deadlines. Forms are available through SSS on November 1 and should be submitted no later than December 31, 2019.
Are most students from the East Side of Providence? Thirty percent of our students come from the Providence area, including the East Side and other parts of the city. MB students represent 40 cities and towns in Rhode Island, and 36 in Massachusetts. We are also pleased to welcome several students who have recently moved to the United States as well as international students from China.
What are the hours of the school day? What if I can’t pick up my child right after school? School begins at 8:00 am for all divisions and ends at 3:00 pm. Nursery and pre-primary classes end at noon each day. After school care is available for nursery and pre-primary students until 3:00 and extended day/MB after 3 for all lower school students until 5:30. Lower school also has an early arrival option from 7:30 – 8:00 a.m. Middle and upper school students may arrive early (our dining hall and Woodman Café have options for breakfast) and stay on campus after school if they are involved in after school activities (performing arts, athletics, robotics). After school activities are optional in the middle school and required at different cycles in the upper school. Students may also work independently in the library, Y-Lab, or Woodman after school.
What options are available for lunch? Beginning in third grade, students have the option of participating in our all-inclusive lunch plan. Students who are not enrolled in the plan may purchase lunch using a card-swipe card issued by Moses Brown and billed to the family or pay cash. Students may also choose to bring their lunch. 6 | Moses Brown School
Is bus transportation available? Yes! Statewide Transportation provides buses from Barrington, Bristol-Warren, Central Falls, Cranston, East Providence, Johnston, North Providence, Pawtucket, and Smithfield. Moses Brown provides private bus services from North Kingstown, Saunderstown, Warwick, and Cumberland, Rhode Island and Foxboro, Newton, and North Attleboro, Massachusetts.
Will my child have an advisor? Advisors are assigned to students beginning in sixth grade. In middle school, your advisor is a member of your academic team. This is the person who “links” your life at Moses Brown to your life outside of school. Advisors have first-hand knowledge of middle school academic and co-curricular life. Advisors keep in touch with parents on a regular basis. In the upper school, all students have an advisor with whom they meet on a regular basis. This person often has a connection to the student—through classes, athletics, arts, or other activities that students enjoy. Upper school students can easily have the same advisor for all 4 years of high school.
Moses Brown School
Moses Brown School | 7
Middle School Middle school is a time of transition and tremendous growth for children. And at Moses Brown, it’s when they discover that the ‘awkward years’ might be some of the best years ever. The school year begins with an immersive four-day, three-night trip that brings students and teachers together, forming and nurturing lasting bonds of friendship and respect. From there, they dive into academic challenges and new levels of freedom and responsibility. Throughout the year, students come to understand and advocate for their true selves with integrity in an environment that is both supportive and challenging. Whether they’re tackling economics, slam poetry, racial justice, or runoff ecology, every lesson draws on multiple skills and strengths, ensuring all children get the right blend of challenge and support to make the most of their unique gifts. And with a collaborative and dynamic corps of seasoned, innovative educators, students reap tremendous benefits from multiple integrated learning units that cross academic disciplines, allowing students to learn with breadth and depth. Students enjoy new social opportunities, expanded after-school offerings, competitive and recreational athletics, inclusive arts ensembles, and high-quality performing arts offerings. They learn to take responsibility for themselves, while still having the strong support of a group of teachers who know them well. Many grownups think of their middle school years with a shudder. But after seeing middle school at Moses Brown, they often say, “I wish I could go back!”
A Typical Day Every middle schooler’s day begins with advisory, in which students nurture positive relationships with peers and a trusted adult. Classes are frequently woven together in a blend of literature, mathematics, science, and social studies. They probe the technical and societal opportunities and challenges posed by the internet, and learn how to be safe, responsible citizens online.
8:00 a.m. 8:15 a.m. 9:05 a.m. 10:05 a.m. 10:20 a.m. 11:10 a.m. 11:55 a.m. 12:40 p.m. 1:10 p.m. 2:00 p.m. 2:50 p.m.
Advisory Spanish Algebra Recess Science Jazz Band Physical Education Lunch History English Advisory Moses Brown School | 9
Parent Support At Moses Brown, parents are a vital part of a dynamic, close-knit community and their partnership with the school contributes to the success of our educational mission. Our active Parents’ Association includes parent representatives at each grade level as well as an executive committee and division coordinators: all are links between the school and parents. Every voice matters and the resulting collaboration is part of what makes Moses Brown unique—their collective thinking is a vital component to the continued enrichment of the community. All parents of Moses Brown students are members of our Parents’ Association. Its goal is to engage parents in the vital work and spirit of our school community, and to give parents the knowledge, tools, and skills that will allow them to support their children socially and academically. The Parents’ Association fundraises for professional development and scholarship, plans community events and programs of interest for parents, and welcomes new families. 10 | Moses Brown School
Support education by funding: • Special projects for teachers, outside the scope of divisional and department budgets • Enrichment opportunities for student experience and faculty professional development • A n endowed scholarship providing tuition for one student per year
Build community: • New Parent Reception • Parent Potlucks for every class • E XPO: Homecoming/Open House • B ook Festival • Teacher appreciation events • Year-end celebrations • M Be There: spring auction which raises funds for scholarship and faculty development
Student Support At Moses Brown, we celebrate and cultivate every student’s unique strengths and passions, and support every student’s unique challenges and areas for growth. Those strengths and weaknesses can be academic, social, or emotional, and MB has full-time licensed professionals to help students reach their full potential. Middle school’s team structure facilitates a collaborative approach to supporting students with different learning profiles. Every student receives coaching on executive function, time management, and study skills. They learn to plan, prioritize, and advocate for their particular learning style.
Krista Haskell, B.A., M.S.W., LICSW Krista Haskell, LICSW, is Moses Brown’s full-time counselor for grades N-6. She provides counseling for socialemotional and academic challenges, and professional evaluation for testing and intervention of diagnosed differences. Whether recommending extended time on assessments, strategies for note-taking, or technological supports, Krista’s experience and expertise give her a wealth of strategies for families to use in navigating the challenges of growing up, giving one’s best, and finding an enjoyable and sustainable balance.
Jessica Stewart, B.A., M.S.Ed., M.S., Psy.D. Dr. Jessica Stewart is Moses Brown’s fulltime psychologist for grades 7-12 and provides counseling for social-emotional challenges, support for students with academic challenges, and professional evaluation for testing and intervention of diagnosed differences. Between her extensive clinical background, classroom work, and caring relationships with students, she is often a crucial link in the school-parent partnership, supporting students who may not, through natural adolescent reserve, communicate openly with parents. She also facilitates studentteacher collaborations around teaching and learning styles and accommodations. Moses Brown School | 11
English Middle school students move beyond vocabulary and grammatical foundations to develop their own voice in a variety of written media, and learn to explore literature through personal experience. Constant emphasis on the importance of good writing hones their skills in oral presentations, dramatic reenactments, and mock trials, giving them regular practice finding and focusing their voice on the page. Students also connect with literature in drama classes, an after-school musical, and spoken-word poetry performances. Stories come alive with dramatic readings, visiting artists, and an exciting partnership with StoryCorps. Focused practice with all these skills prepares children to tackle the challenge and rigor of upper school with confidence and strength, and helps them develop a sense of the literary traditions that shape our culture. As they grapple with questions of identity and authenticity, students learn to find their own voices, creating text-to-self connections that deepen their reading and writing. Each class begins with ten minutes of independent reading, which supports a literary culture in which students
Grappling with big themes
explore new genres, discuss and recommend books to one another, and find enjoyment in the written word. And lessons go far beyond reading and writing, as students demonstrate their learning in fun and varied projects like: • Conducting a trial to untangle a murder mystery • Writing, editing, and compiling a book of original work • Writing and performing spoken-word poetry • Creating an Instagram feed for a literary character • Performing scenes from classic and contemporary literature
Skills for life
• Does free will exist?
• Read critically and analytically
• G rowing up — who am I?
• A sk probing questions
• G ender roles in literature
• Present a well-supported analysis
• Struggling with the world and oneself
• O ffer respectful and helpful critique
It’s all about the love Above all, middle school English at Moses Brown is about helping children discover their own love of reading. After all, children who love reading will educate themselves for a lifetime.
Immersive learning At Moses Brown, middle schoolers enjoy several immersive, integrated learning units. These lessons bring together different subjects to study the same material from different angles, teaching students to think deeply and critically. Never Cry Wolf: As students dig into this classic work of nonfiction, their science classes challenge them to answer the question “What happens when animals travel outside of government managed lands?” They take on the roles of stakeholders whose opinions are often in conflict, and learn to see the merits and motivations of diverse arguments. To Kill A Mockingbird: While reading this classic novel of racial justice, students also learn about the environmental factors at work in the book. In math, they study macroeconomics, including how markets work—and how they crash. And in social studies, they examine the Great Depression and its effects on culture and society. 12 | Moses Brown School
Characters come alive! One minute you're settling in for the start of class, and suddenly wolves lope by, their hair bristling and reeking with a wild wet-dog smell. Or perhaps the door bursts open and a teenager staggers in, declaiming the wounds of love in iambic pentameter. In middle school, literature comes alive with performances, multimedia projects, and visiting experts. With teachers who love exploring the world through the gateway of a printed page, the excitement is infectious. Students discover their own passions, and bring their own perspectives to the classroom, whether they're slouching uptown with Holden Caulfield, darting through a thicket with Katniss Everdeen, or hearing the panting wolves that cross the tundra.
Sixth grade
Seventh grade
Eighth grade
When students enter middle school, they discover new levels of personal and academic freedom—and responsibility. With free periods and silent reading at the start of every class, children have lots of time to get lost in a book. They also have access to the Walter Jones Library, a beautiful, professionally staffed facility that’s ideal for group projects, solo study, or just cracking open a book to see what happens next.
In seventh grade, students aren’t just reading, they’re making connections— literally. With multiple integrated learning units throughout the year, children deepen their understanding of literature with companion units in math, science, and social studies. In these exciting curricula, they read, write, analyze, create, and present in every class for several weeks. And their racial justice unit culminates with reading, writing, and performing spoken word poetry.
Eighth graders are the leaders of middle school, and they read, write, create, and perform like the emerging high schoolers they are. They read challenging texts, conduct thoughtful analyses, and present their findings with polish. They discover their own voices in a variety of genres, and conduct and record ethnography interviews in partnership with NPR’s Peabody Award-winning series StoryCorps.
“In the English classroom, what we care about most are stories. As important as the stories we read are the stories that we and our classmates share.” - Maureen Nagle, MS English
Moses Brown School | 13
Immersive learning Whether you’re in class, at soccer practice, or in the middle of dinner, when the baby cries, it’s up to you to take care of things. You might have a partner and a good job, or be single and living on minimum wage. Somehow, you’ll have to make the numbers work. Fortunately, this will all be over in a couple weeks, because you’re a middle schooler at Moses Brown, and the baby project doesn’t go on forever. But in the process, you’ll get a taste of how math skills, executive function, and emotional regulation work together in the lives of grownups. (You’ll probably appreciate your parents a little more, too.) This is just one of many immersive learning units in middle school. You’ll run architectural calculations on a historic building, figure out how interest rates affect everything from credit cards to what kind of life you can live in retirement, and round out your understanding of the Prohibition era by designing the odds for your own speakeasy. The mix is always changing, and fine-tuned to every student’s abilities—lecture, discussion, group work, independent project—and professional, committed teachers are there every step of the way to help students when they struggle and push them when they’re ready to excel. 14 | Moses Brown School
Math
Though a tradition of inquiry lies at the heart of Moses Brown’s Quaker tradition, there’s one question you probably won’t find here: “When am I ever going to use this?” Throughout the year, project-based learning makes kids hungry for the mathematical tools that will lead them to the answers of interesting questions: • How do they figure out the timing for stoplights, and why? • How can you engineer a container to carry 10 liters of water for a mile? • How long and tall does a wheelchair ramp need to be for a 150-year-old building? • How do markets work? • What goes into making a sustainable family budget, and how is it affected by compounding credit card interest? At Moses Brown, we stress process over product, making sure students have both the mathematical skills and plasticity of mind to find multiple routes to an answer. We push kids to internalize concepts—can they explain it? Teach it to a classmate? Collaborate? At MB, students go beyond rote memorization to learn the language of math. This approach builds a solid foundation of mathematical thinking for students of different interests and aptitudes. And for those students who want to explore more deeply, it gives them a fluency and flexibility with math that allows them to easily grasp more advanced concepts. For students ready to go further, understanding why algorithms work the way they do, middle school offers Conceptual Algebra, an advanced seminar-style class that challenges students to find their own answers in response to Socratic questioning and peer dialogue.
The main idea
Trying it out
• Why does math work?
• C an we balance a family budget?
• H ow can we work together to find an answer?
• How can we measure without rulers?
• How many paths exist to our solution?
• C an we design the odds for a profitable casino?
“I am always interested in connecting theory and skills to the real world. In my classroom, we are apt to integrate math and its real-world applications. Like learning a new language, math opens up new ways to make sense of the world. For the curious middle school mind, learning is compelling in an authentic project-based context.” - Matt Herreid, MS Math
Sixth grade With puzzles, games, and activities, students quickly master operations involving positive and negative integers. They move on to an introduction to algebra, and are often surprised to discover that they’ve been preparing for this for years. They start with one- and two-step equations, and always show their work so teachers can help them ‘debug’ it. And through it all, they’re being shown how mathematical thinking applies to real life.
Seventh grade In seventh grade, students dive headlong into the study of algebra—and tie it to big questions from other classes. They calculate how big a container they’d need for a day’s ration of water, then build a container to match and carry it one mile, learning about volume calculations, engineering, and water scarcity in one sweep. After learning about probability, they design the odds for their own casino, and study how interest rates affect every facet of modern life.
Eighth grade Eighth graders complete a full course of Algebra in preparation for Geometry (regular, honors, or accelerated), and students who display exceptional aptitude are invited to take Conceptual Algebra, a seminar-style course that challenges students to understand the deeper principles behind the algorithms. Students also devise and live within a hypothetical budget, perform real-world interest calculations, and practice preparing for upper-school-style assessments.
Bringing it all together The teachers in Moses Brown’s middle school are as innovative as they are passionate. They frequently collaborate on integrated learning units that leverage each other’s work to reinforce interdisciplinary lessons and extend students’ thinking. Ultimately, this helps students form connections and find correspondences that lead them to ever-more sophisticated questions. This approach helps students understand the role math plays in their lives. When they consider the ecological ramifications of wildlife management, they have to calculate the economic impacts on small business owners. When they study the wide-ranging effects of the Great Depression, they connect the mathematical power of compound interest with policy and political decisions that have reverberated for nearly 100 years. By understanding the real-world effects of mathematics, they come to appreciate the power, and beauty of this elemental language. Moses Brown School | 15
Immersive learning Middle school historians have the opportunity to connect their work in history and social studies to literature, math, and science. These added layers of context bring richness and color to their understanding of history. And by considering the same events from many different perspectives, they learn to dig beyond the easy answers to grasp the totality of complex questions. Students are asked to grapple with complex questions that defy easy answers, like: “What was Christopher Columbus: hero, villain, neither, or both?” In addressing this, they understand not just the facts of history, but the power that comes with being the one to shape a narrative, and how to seek out voices that have been left out of history books. Racial dynamics, economic pressures, and the human impact of the Great Depression pop vividly to life when students read To Kill A Mockingbird. English, math, and science all work together to make the world of the 1930’s feel present and alive, and draw students inexorably into the ‘story’ in history. 16 | Moses Brown School
History At Moses Brown, social studies draws on the related fields of history, anthropology, and religious studies to understand the diverse and complex world we live in. By better understanding the contexts of place and time in which other people have lived, we can more fully appreciate their choices and the forces acting upon them. This understanding is essential to being an informed and responsible citizen, and cultivates a spirit of empathetic leadership in our children. Whether wrestling with Rhode Island’s leading place in the slave trade, untangling the conflicting interests of ranchers and wolf ecologists, or debating the role that the U.S. should play in the Middle East, middle school students are challenged to address complex issues with research, reflective writing, and respectful dialogue. By reading closely, asking probing questions, and writing with mechanics, style, and editorial rigor—and the respectful consideration inherent in Quaker values—Moses Brown students learn to approach a complex world with insight and humility, and forge connections that take them far beyond the familiar. They start by deconstructing—and re-constructing—foundational concepts. What is a civilization? How can we understand an entire civilization when all we have are clues? Students will practice reading, writing, and researching, alone and in groups, to become capable history detectives. Students will consider history from multiple perspectives, wrestle with great (and not-so-great) events in American and world history, and examine how religious, economic, and political forces interact. And once they’re ready, they’ll confront confounding questions like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Rwandan genocide.
Sixth grade First and foremost, sixth grade history is about building strong habits of deductive resasoning: What is the evidence? Where did it come from? Can you trust it? What conclusions can you infer? Using a framework of Quaker values, students will learn about homo habilis and the millennia that followed, through early civilizations to the classical era—and share their findings by writing, composing songs, and delivering an original oration on the virtues of Athens or Sparta.
Seventh grade
Students consider big questions: • W hat is civilization? • W ho gets to tell the story? • W hat is the danger of a single point of view?
Students learn to: • Conduct rigorous research • B ecome history detectives • Write clearly about their interpetations of events
Who do you trust? Or rather, who can you trust? This is one of the central questions of seventh grade social studies, in which students consider the distortion that happens when historians only consider one perspective on events. They learn to ask big questions like: What motivations might this historian have? Whose voice is being left out? At every step, they are challenged to think deeply, engage in rigorous, respectful discussion, and write well.
Eighth grade Eighth grade historians use their skills in gathering evidence, scanning for bias, and combining multiple viewpoints to consider some of the most intractable problems of the modern world. There are no easy answers, but students find themselves wellequipped to consider these issues, and—with a particular emphasis on writing and revising—present a well-thought-out point of view to the world.
“Middle school students are eager to be challenged, and equally eager to learn new skills and strategies for meeting those challenges. We get to study history, but also learn how to study history—what questions to ask and how to go about answering them through research and investigative inquiry.”
- Jon Gold, MS History
Digging In For critical thinking skills, the rubber meets the road in middle school. Students have to use clear-eyed empiricism, carefully evaluating evidence for trustworthiness and both conscious and unconscious bias, and determine which pieces of evidence are truly meaningful. They have to test their theories against the evidence, and re-think the story if the facts don’t fit. And they have to learn to write clearly and persuasively to get their ideas across, as well as navigate complex group dynamics to achieve meaningful consensus. Come June, these confident thinkers and collaborators are more than ready for upper school! Moses Brown School | 17
Science is about • Following your curiosity • A sking hard questions • Testing for answers • E xpressing your findings clearly
It’s fun to • Flood-proof your town
Science
Good science starts with good habits, like asking fundamental questions: What are we trying to discover? Is there anything to disprove? What evidence suggests a hypothesis? How do we test it, and what do we need to exclude for clear results? If the data fit, can we reproduce our findings? If not, what happened?
• R ace balloon-powered cars
From the beginning of sixth grade, students practice asking questions like this and seeking their answers in verifiable data. They apply this strategy to Earth science, chemistry, cell biology, anatomy, and more. And teachers always take inquiry beyond the data, seizing every opportunity to connect students’ work in science with their lessons in math, social studies, and English. As a result, students have a sense of the role science plays in life, and gain a deeper understanding of other subjects by applying this rational and analytical approach. • Design zany Rube Goldberg devices
Students learn about everything from the way chemical bonds work to the forces that cause tectonic movement and soil erosion, and practice expressing their findings in writing, graphs, charts, and interactive media. They study Newtonian physics and fluid dynamics, learning what keeps boats afloat and aircraft in the sky, and trace the complex and fascinating journey of energy through an ecosystem, and the inputs and effects of human energy on our environment. At every step, they practice the habit of asking good questions, thinking deeply, and drawing their conclusions from sound data.
Immersive learning It’s one thing to do your research and surmise how a cattle rancher might feel about wild wolves. It’s another thing entirely to hear the click of cowboy boots on the linoleum floor as he walks into class, fresh off the plane from Montana. It’s one thing to speculate about what it’s like to live in different economic circumstances. It’s another thing to roll the dice and find that for the next week you need to manage a budget wildly different from the one you’re used to—and take care of an electronic baby. It’s all part of Moses Brown’s belief that students learn best when we bring the world to our classrooms and our classrooms to the world, going beyond books and blackboards to see how issues play out in people’s lives, and how important unintended consequences can be. And for those students who want to learn a little more about life on the range, they can mosey along on a faculty-led summer TRIP to Yellowstone. 18 | Moses Brown School
Sixth grade Middle school scientists at Moses Brown look at the world closely, from the minutiae of atomic interaction to the movement of global forces. They study the way forces interact, and how they operate at the molecular level as chemical bonds form and break, absorbing and releasing energy into their environment. They learn about atomic structure, deeply research specific elements, and share their findings with one another. This forms the basis for an understanding of cell biology, learning the structures of cells and their functions, and demonstrate their learning with candy models of molecules that are as scientifically accurate as they are delicious. As they reflect how forces work, students also study the interaction of land and water, and how soil erosion and deposition literally shapes the environment. With that knowledge in hand, they examine how flooding affects communities, experiment with designs to protect against flooding, and consider the importance of this question in the Ocean State. Beyond cells, students learn what DNA is, its role in evolution, and how DNA influences who we are. They discuss the scientific, social, and health-related aspects of human sexuality using evidence-based educational best practices, with the aim of making sure every student is well-informed, healthy, and responsible. At every step, students are challenged to ask hard questions and dig for the data that can reveal reliable answers.
The casual observer of sixth grade science class might be shocked—shocked—to see these budding scientists are having fun! If they’re laughing and eating candy, it’s because they just finished making molecular models out of marshmallows, gummy worms, and more, and are cleaning up their creations in the tastiest way possible. If they’re covered in sand, you probably just missed their experiments with soil erosion. And if they’re dripping wet, they just tested their designs of water-carrying devices to better understand the third world.
Seventh grade Seventh grade scientists dive into the germ theory of disease and epidemiology with an experiment to determine whether hand-washing can affect the spread of the common cold. They isolate specific variables and test their results for repeatability, then graphically represent their data and write a clear, comprehensive report to present their findings. And they consider how (or if ) the U.S. government should respond to the presence of wolves outside government-managed lands by researching multiple conflicting perspectives.
Eighth grade Eighth graders explore the forces that control our world— what makes boats float? What makes planes fly? And how can you measure the forces at work on a car speeding around a track? They dive into how DNA shapes organisms, and using a developmentally-appropriate, evidence-based approach, how human sexuality works, with a goal of being healthy, safe, and responsible. And in May, they’ll demonstrate their understanding of Newtonian physics by building fun, fantastical Rube Goldberg devices and inviting the whole school to try them. Moses Brown School | 19
STEM English, Mathematics, Spanish, French, Latin—these languages are important, but none may be more relevant to success in the 21st century than the language of computers: code. By practicing algorithmic thinking in math class, deductive reasoning and problem-finding in science, and translation and creativity in language classes, Moses Brown students are primed for success before they write their first line. Students learn how to break a problem down into discrete, solvable chunks, combine small solutions into big ones, and build their way to programs that really work. They learn to plan, try, fail, and reevaluate on their own and in teams, contributing and listening to get the best that every teammate has to offer. Of course, computers are here for us, not the other way around, and so there is considerable emphasis on how, when, and why computers should be part of our lives, and when they shouldn’t. Students learn healthy habits, how to conduct oneself online, and most importantly, how to stay safe. After all, knowing what you should do is more important than knowing what you can do, and the first responsibility of Moses Brown students in a connected environment is to be good digital citizens. For those students who want to do more than class time allows, there are clubs for coding and robotics that offer opportunities to collaborate, experiment, and make new friends. Increasing numbers of students cite math and science as their favorite subjects, and Moses Brown has a vast menu of opportunities for students to explore their interests and develop their abilities, from in-class projects to after-school activities to use of the Y-Lab. In all, students who wish to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math will find robust support and facilities for their skills and ambitions.
21st-Century Learning Sixth graders are entrusted with an iPad loaded (and locked down) with tools to support their academic work. As they embrace this new tool, they consider important questions, including: What does it mean to be a digital citizen? How can I enjoy the benefits of the Internet while remaining safe? How can the iPad help me with organization, research, collaboration, and curation? How can design thinking and programming empower me to solve challenging problems? Throughout their middle school career, students develop the discipline to integrate technology into their lives without letting it take over, and the sense of responsibility that comes with being a digital citizen. This is essential preparation for the deeper digital waters of upper school, and the faculty acknowledge the students’ growth by giving them the iPads to keep. STEM is by definition an integrated discipline, and its component parts are woven into lessons throughout middle school. Whether students are coding environmental models, or programming Sphero bots to display important physics concepts like velocity, friction, and force, they learn to appreciate code as a language for expressing problems and solutions, and as a creative means to achieve their goals. 20 | Moses Brown School
If (this.year>=2000){ coding++ ; robotics++ ; STEM.ed += clubs.fun ; }
Cutting-edge facilities • 5,000-square-foot Y-Lab • Dedicated robotics lab • Low- and high-tech fabrication facilities
21st Century Success Sixth grade Sixth grade STEM students dig into a broad range of challenging interactive projects. They write, produce, and edit their own PSA about digital citizenship; create and code interactive holiday cards; produce animated presentations for literature and history classes; and use CAD to prototype a toy, musical instrument, or consumer product. Faculty from different disciplines work in concert to enhance the study of natural processes by developing computer simulations of photosynthesis, cell respiration, DNA replication, and more.
Seventh grade Students expand on their understanding of physics concepts like velocity, friction, and force by coding Sphero bots and making data-driven predictions and seeing how they play out in the real world. Through games and class challenges, they use code as a language for understanding, deconstructing, and solving complex problems. During many classes, they use technology to crack academic problems, and after school they can go even further with a VEX robotics club, math and chess clubs, access to the 5,000-square-foot Y-Lab, and more.
Eighth grade Eighth graders use code to solve problems, iterate potential solutions, and display their results. They join with students from around the country in the Hour of Code, and if they wish, may enroll in exciting electives in Engineering and Design. As engineers, they master the elemental tools of engineering—wedges, planes, levers, and pulleys—and collaborate on zany and creative Rube Goldberg devices that delight and inspire the entire school. By the time they leave for upper school, they’ve studied science, technology, engineering, and mathematics deeply in academic and practical ways.
According to Forbes, STEM-related fields are growing at twice the rate of other sectors of the American economy, and are an engine of tremendous innovation. The Brookings Institution reports that over 20% of all jobs require a high level of knowledge in at least one STEM field. As digital natives, today’s students need to be fluent in the language and customs of digital innovation. They need to be able to work in teams; write sophisticated object-oriented code; design, test, and revise working robots, and know how to navigate the rewarding and hazardous waters of the internet. To prepare them, Moses Brown asks students to use these skills constantly, whether they’re in technology class or not, so that they become second nature. These concepts are reinforced in many disciplines. Students practice computational thinking in math class, they ‘debug’ history by using evidence to draw conclusions and critically evaluate theories in history, and they exercise—and learn to trust—their imaginations in English class and fine and performing arts. By the time they graduate, Moses Brown students have prototyped, iterated, innovated, and design-cycled. They’ve studied, sweat on their own, and been part of dynamic teams to share responsibilities and rewards. And they’ve found the joy and artistry inherent in creative work in pure and applied sciences. They go on to study, explore, and innovate at some of the nation’s leading colleges and universities. After that...we’ll see what the next Brookings report has to say. Moses Brown School | 21
World Languages Language is a living thing, the flowing lifeblood of culture. Students at Moses Brown go beyond conjugation to understand the sound, construction, idioms, and cultural referents that underpin the languages they study. They work on listening, speaking, reading, and writing in equal measure so they’re not just prepared for further study, but for living in another culture. With local field trips to world-langugage communities and illuminating in-class visitors, they get ample practice putting their skills to work. All language instruction at Moses Brown sits upon a foundation of Quaker values that asserts that all people are equally deserving of respect. And thus, by learning to pronounce another language well and master its grammar, we honor other cultures and step outside our own perspectives. As part of middle school, this is an important step in students’ maturation.
World Languages • Spanish • French • L atin • Independent study
Language Immersion Day • Woonsocket Museum of Work & Culture, French-American School • R .I. State House, dining in Central Falls • Walking tour of Roman architecture
French and Spanish students learn to converse like natives, practicing the expressions and inflections that help a language sit naturally on the tongue, and which mark them as speakers with deep understanding of the language and its cultural context. Students of Latin dig into the grammar and history of ancient Rome, developing a strong grasp of the ways romance languages and the Roman empire underpin much of Western civilization. And with TRIPs to French- and Spanish-speaking locales, students can experience firsthand how empowering it can be to have another language at one’s command. In addition to all of this experiential work, students participate in the ACTFL AAPL Test (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Assessment of Performance Towards Proficiency in Languages) to benchmark their performance against peers at other schools. Taken together, this combination of pedagogical approaches prepares students for advanced language study in upper school, and for TRIPs to foreign lands where they’ll be called on to use their language skills to help the group navigate their journey. 22 | Moses Brown School
“Language is a God-given skill and a window to the mind and soul of others. There is a sublime gratification when one is able to speak a language with a student to whom one has introduced it a couple of years prior. I hope to bring my view and my modest input to help forge the collective wisdom of our students.” - Karim Sow, MS World Languages
Using a Burton Grant, middle school faculty researched and implemented a new kind of assessment at Moses Brown—the ACTFL AAPPL Test. This system evaluates speaking and listening skills along with reading, writing, vocabulary, conjugation, and grammar. After all, you only really know a language if you can speak it with others. Students also enjoy foreign media, broadening their understanding of the language and world events.
French Students begin with pronunciation, vocabulary, and colloquial expressions, and quickly progress to the grammar and syntax needed to speak like a native. They practice conversation, improvisation, French games, and jokes. They then learn more complex structures and sentences, and prepare to round out their study of French with the ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages.
Spanish Starting with sentences and turns of phrase to navigate everyday social interactions, students learn how to communicate in culturally-appropriate ways. They study clothing trends and culinary traditions in Latin America, Spain, and the U.S., and ultimately develop the ability to plan a trip in Spanish: how to make reservations, check in for a flight, and clear security, and get around once they’re on the ground.
Latin Latin students start close to home with expressions regularly found in English, and expand their vocabulary with common nouns, verbs, and adjectives. And while there is plenty of reading and writing, students orate, dance, and sing as well, giving new life to this classic language. They progress to declensions and conjucations, as well as different grammatical modes. They learn the active voice, and the passive voice is also learned, and they translate with increasing precision.
Student profile: Gabriela C. ’24 Hello, bonjour, ¡hola! For Gabriela, anything is possible on a school day at MB. Born to native Colombians, she was concerned that her Spanish was slipping, and wanted to use Spanish class to strengthen it. “My grandparents don’t really speak English,” she says, “so this was a way to stay connected with them.” However, she was also really excited about the prospect of opening a new frontier in her learning by taking French. She approached the faculty and Head of Middle School Jared Schott about taking both classes. “It’s two rigorous academic classes,” says Jared, “so we approached it carefully. We took a few weeks to see how she was handling the load, and it seemed like she was really up to it, so we let her go ahead.” For Gabby, it’s worked well. “I don’t have that many free priods,” she says, “but I’m still able to get all my work done.” Jared notes that she’s not the only student to want to expand their abilities in other languages. “We frequently have students who want to take multiple languages that we offer, or add others. Right now there are students taking Japanese, Hebrew, and Arabic outside of school.” Gabriela reports that similarities between the languages have helped, and that she’s enjoyed growing her own skills–and her connection to her family. Moses Brown School | 23
Arts
Who am I? Is life real, or just something inside my head? Does life just go by, or does it have lasting meaning? These are questions no teacher can answer. But they can teach you to find the echoes of the answers in the song you sing, in the way a curve of paint dries upon its canvas. They can teach you how to apply the fullness of your heart and your sharpest critical thinking to get inside another’s perspective, to assume their worldview so fully that you can inhabit them on stage, and gain an outsider’s view of yourself. The arts are an essential academic subject at Moses Brown because of the ways they integrate skills learned in other disciplines, and bring students back, over and over again, to the essential humanity in all people—the central tenet of Quaker values. Whether students are already highly accomplished or are trying something for the first time, Moses Brown offers an extensive range of opportunities for visual, musical, and performing artists to develop their craft and artistry. For students who aren’t sure about stepping into something new, there is a broad base of encouragement to give it a try, and a community of friends and mentors ready to celebrate their success. As part of their middle school courses, students rotate through drama, wood shop, and visiual art, and work with everything from charcoal to paint to ceramics and found-object art. Students who want to go further have ample after-school activities to follow their interests into deeper territory. Students have access to chorus, strings, wind ensemble, jazz band, and an annual middle school musical that offers opportunities to act, sing, dance, and learn the ropes of technical production. No matter which arts offerings they choose to pursue, every student at least gets an introduction, and maybe discovers some answers within.
24 | Moses Brown School
Performing Arts • Choral and instrumental ensembles • Middle school musical • T heater arts as an integral part of curriculum
Fine Arts • Drawing, painting, sculpture • Wood shop • Fine arts as an integral part of curriculum
Art is education Fine arts, craftsmanship, and music were once considered essential to a balanced and rigorous education. At Moses Brown, they still are. While public schools around the country have addressed budgetary shortfalls by cutting these important subjects, Moses Brown has continued to expand in- and afterschool arts opportunities for students. Many people understand how the arts connect us more deeply to our humanity. At Moses Brown, this is a critical pathway to understanding ourselves and living out essential values of respect for the self and others, for learning how to appreciate a situation from another’s perspective, and for developing the inner discipline to master a difficult and rewarding skill. Students in wood shop combine creativity, executive function, and mathematics to make fun and functional objects their families will treasure for years. They learn how to observe carefully and present their perspective in fine art studio classes. They go beyond text to lived meaning in theater class, and often combine these lessons with studies in English. These experiences are engaging and kinesthetic, and help children remember what they’ve learned for years.
Some students are not destined to be lifelong artists. It’s not their passion, or circumstances send them in another direction. For these students, it’s imperative that they have enough experience with art to know how to access that side of themselves, and to understand art’s importance in the world—and to appreciate those who make it. Some students, however, are destined to become artists. For these children, a nurturing environment with skilled educators and plentiful art-making materials are the launch pad they need. Moses Brown is here for all of them.
Visual Art Middle school artists get to explore a wide variety of media in a student-centered, process-based approach to art-making. Whether drawing, painting, sculpting, or making found-object transformations, they are constantly challenged to adapt media to their own sense of expression. And in wood shop, they make objects that are both fun and functional, following precise safety guidelines while making the most of their creativity and mathematical abilities.
Theater To be or not to be an actor? At Moses Brown, this isn’t even a question. Every student learns to explore space, narrative, and the power of their own body to make theater happen. In addition to the sheer joy of this essential art form, it also builds in students the courage to speak in front of others, and the confidence to be authentic and vulnerable. Students who want to do more are invited to audition for the fun and inclusive middle school musical.
Music In a classical education, Music is part of the Quadrivium—the four essential subjects. In addition to profoundly mathematical thinking, music builds self-discipline, attentive listening skills, and the ability to function selflessly as part of a larger group. With a wide range of instrumental and choral ensembles, and lessons available during and after school, students can try a new instrument or hone their abilities to a high polish in an environment that is both supportive and challenging. Moses Brown School | 25
Athletics
Greater than the sum of their parts In a longitudinal study of leadership, when people were asked “whom do you most like to work with,” one common theme emerged: the people mentioned had all played team sports. It’s not hard to see why this might be. On athletic teams, children learn how to give their best and how to support those around them. They learn how to cheer for a friend and celebrate their success, how to help someone bounce back from a missed opportunity, and how to keep the good of the group in mind ahead of personal considerations. Who wouldn’t want to work with a person like that? Of course, from a kid’s perspective it’s all about fun. It’s about having a broad menu of things to try, having supportive teammates who help you learn the ropes, and the coaching and competitors to help you develop your game to the best it can be. Moses Brown is fortunate to have a culture that welcomes newcomers, an athletic education program that develops students’ passion and talent, and a history of excellence that puts high-level achievement within reach. For family and friends, it means watching kids find their inner competitor, bonding with each other, and enjoying fall, winter, and spring afternoons wearing blue and white! 26 | Moses Brown School
It’s wisdom of the ages: healthy body, healthy mind. This axiom is borne out by decades of peer-reviewed research that has found that the metabolic boost provided by regular exercise supercharges the brain, enhancing both cognitive and executive function. In short, exercise makes you smarter and helps you focus. That’s why recess, P.E. classes, and after-school sports are an important part of MB’s learning culture. For students who are passionate about sports, Moses Brown offers 21 teams in 11 sports for middle school athletes throughout the year. These teams are exciting and competitive, but we always put good sportsmanship first, with results on the scoreboard close behind. Students are coached by a mix of specialized skill-building professionals and the classroom teachers and advisors with whom they have a close relationship. These connections often help teachers support students when they’re struggling socially or academically.
Exercise is proven to boost • Cognitive function • E xecutive control • Social self-regulation • Cooperative dynamics
Different kinds of activity • P.E. classes • After-school sports • Daily recess
In addition to providing neurocognitive benefits, sports are just fun. Children form lasting friendships with their teammates, learning to trust and rely on one another both on the field and off as they navigate the exciting and complex challenges of adolescence. And with a constant reinforcement of the Quaker values that animate MB, they learn to be the kinds of competitors that other teams respect. Not every student wants to be an athlete, however, and that’s fine, too. With daily recess and frequent physical education classes, those students who aren’t drawn to competitive athletics can still enjoy camaraderie, team-building, and all of the mental benefits that come with breaking a sweat. These classes focus on games and activities that are collaborative, fun, and inclusive, so every child can exercise in the way that feels right to them. Middle school physical education and wellness classes focus on cooperation and culture-building group activities. With fun games and activities, students improve hand-eye coordination, fine and gross motor movements, teamwork, and physical fitness. They’re encouraged to step out of their comfort zone, especially while completing the FitnessGram assessment, which includes tests of cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, and flexibility, and supported with realistic goals that start with each student’s aptitudes and abilities.
3 Seasons
Fall Sports Soccer Field Hockey
Cross Country 7v7 Football (non-tackle)
Winter Sports Basketball Swimming
Spring Sports Baseball Softball Tennis Lacrosse Track and Field Moses Brown School | 27
Quaker Education Quakerism was founded in the 1600’s by English people seeking a religious community based on equality rather than hierarchy. Today, Quakerism— also known as the Religious Society of Friends—thrives in small, strong communities that believe in the dignity and worth of every person; this ‘Inner Light’ compels Quakers to value community, non-violence, integrity, and respect for all. The central practice of Friends is meeting for worship, an extended period of shared silence and reflection. Open to all, Meeting invites participants to reflect inwardly and, if so moved, to share a message with the community. Meeting is part of the school week for every child, from nursery through twelfth grade, and is an essential touchstone for students. Upon returning to Moses Brown, many alumni cite it as one of the most cherished aspects of their MB experience, and long for this ingrained cultural respect for reflection and introspection. For over 300 years, these beliefs and practices have placed Quakers at the forefront of education with an unwavering commitment to giving and being one’s personal best. Students learn to respect themselves and others, and demonstrate that respect by doing good work and serving other people. While most students at Quaker schools come from many different religious traditions, or none at all, the values of Quakerism encourage and guide them every day to do and be their best. In addition to these weekly practices, the central values of Quakerism— simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship—are woven into every subject and every class.
Sixth grade Like all middle school students at Moses Brown, sixth graders begin the year with a four-day, three-night retreat that helps establish a culture of respect, kindnesss, and thoughtful listening that frames their academic experience. They connect school culture to a study of the Protestant Reformation in history, and examine how Quaker practices are reflected in the artifacts of historically prominent Quakers. They also keep journals to reflect on living the basic values of Quakerism: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship (SPICES).
Silence is important • Consider complex issues • Dispassionately reflect on conflict • Connect with one’s spiritual self • Focus on what’s imporant (not just urgent)
Students learn to • G overn their minds and bodies • Allow time for deeper thinking • Cultivate inner calm
Seventh grade Seventh graders learn to serve others, raising money for underserved readers through Books Are Wings, welcoming new immigrants at the Refugee Dream Center, and bridging cultural divides at the Islamic School of Rhode Island. In history, they examine the transformative impact of Quakers on American industry, starting with Moses Brown’s inception of the American Industrial Revolution, and wrestle with its complications–how could a passionate abolitionist and social reformer be blind to the ills of child labor?
Eighth grade Eighth graders learn to serve others, volunteering to show new students around school on visit days, helping Montana ranchers repair cattle fencing on summer trips, or serving as research assistants to scientists in Puerto Rico. In their classes, they consider events from multiple perspectives, giving attention to voices that are frequently left out of the history books and exploring the moral dimensions of world events like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Rwandan genocide, and the history of the Kurdish people. 28 | Moses Brown School
SPICES An Acronym for Quaker Values Simplicity: Does the way I spend my time help me make the best possible contributions to my school? How might I live with more simplicity? Peace: How can I nurture peace within myself, my community, and the world? How can I settle disputes with sensitivity for all involved? Integrity: How do my interactions with other people reflect my values? Community: How do I make our community a welcoming, respectful, and caring place? Equality: How can I speak up and take kind action when I see injustices? How do I build relationships with people whose backgrounds differ from mine? Stewardship: How do I care for ‘learning, people, and place?’ How do I help others recognize and use their gifts?
“The ideas of integrity and voice are so valued, maybe even the most important piece of being an MB community member. Students are encouraged to speak their minds, respect other people’s values, and be true to themselves: these ideas are the foundation of Friends education.” - Jared Schott, MS Head
Quakerism holds that we all have an Inner Light and are equally deserving of dignity and respect. Since the 17th century, this has afforded a genuine welcome to people of all faiths. Other positive tenets emerge from the central premise of Quakerism—that we have a duty to care for each other and the Earth, that we bear a responsibility to use our gifts for the greater good of all, and that we must always think and act with integrity. In addition to weekly silent reflection, middle school students bring moral thinking into their lessons, with a focus on social justice issues and regular service learning. Whether discussing the complex politics of the Middle East in Harkness discussions or working to address systemic racism, they develop an authentic appreciation for the nuances that come with having a multiplicity of viewpoints. In doing so, they are encouraged to listen carefully, think deeply, and speak with confidence. Because Quakersim holds that we each have an Inner Light, there is no need for dogma or intermediation with the spiritual self. This means that people of all faiths—or none—have an authentic place of welcome and respect in the Quaker community. It’s a place where everyone can feel at home to be themselves, to ask searching questions, and to share the answers that arise within. Visitors are welcome at meeting for worship, and there is no better way to understand the moving power of a silent gathering—and public sharing—than by experiencing it for oneself. Moses Brown School | 29
TRIPs
30 | Moses Brown School
Moses Brown teachers use the very best materials and pedagogy to help students consider issues from multiple sides to develop nuanced understanding. But sometimes there’s nothing better than going and seeing for yourself. That’s why we created TRIPs—Travel, Research, and Immersion Programs. TRIPs bring MB’s classrooms to the world and the world to our classrooms. TRIPs are part of every child’s education, enriching and extending their sense of discovery, so whether they inspire Nursery students to explore what trees grow at the opposite end of our 33-acre campus, or seniors to see whether their Spanish is up to the task of coordinating a medical clinic in the Dominican Republic, TRIPs always make classroom learning more relevant and meaningful. In the past, MS students have enjoyed access to: • Puerto Rico Trip • China Trip • Yellowstone Trip • Providence Neighborhood Exploration • Immersion Day (World Language in Rhode Island)
Sixth grade Middle schoolers always begin the year with team trips, four-day overnight voyages to build trust and community. Learning to care for themselves and others, to organize their gear and pack their clothes, and to be an effective follower, helper, and leader establishes a foundation of confidence that helps every child address the challenges ahead.
Seventh grade Seventh graders practice thinking like historians when they research, plan, and design a field trip to Boston. After reviewing each others’ research, they arrive at an itinerary by consensus, and lead one another through the city, explaining the significance of each stop along the way. As citizen scientists, they study the conflicting interests of conservationists, ranchers, ecologists, and wolves in Yellowstone National Park.
Eighth grade As leaders, eighth graders help build the culture of middle school from the first day of team trips. They experience 360-degree learning on Language Immersion Day, when their studies of a world language take on a new level of importance (and they find out just how capable they really are). They conduct ethnographic research as they explore every neighborhood in Providence using public transportation, and then share what they’ve learned. And students who want to go farther afield can take advantage of exciting destination trips. They can practice leadership and team-building at a conference in New York and Montreal; they can work with scientists and ecologists in mangroves, reefs, and blue water in Puerto Rico; or they can ride the range mending fences and studying migration patterns in and around Yellowstone National Park. Students who prefer to go farther can travel to China to visit cities of political, economic, and historic significance, enjoying local cuisine and cultural performances.
Moses Brown School | 31
Global Awareness Global awareness is having a sense of what’s out there, with knowing what can’t be put in a textbook, essay, or white paper. It places humanity and justice at the center of self-discovery and learning. There are many ways Middle School students and faculty fold global awareness into daily learning and life at Moses Brown. Guest speakers bring academic work to life, like the rancher who comes from Montana to tell students what it’s really like to contend with wolves for one’s livelihood, or the prize-winning authors who reveal the years of work and resilience needed to cultivate their talents. Trips to Boston, Yellowstone, China, and beyond give students firsthand knowledge of what these places are like, as well as the people who inhabit them, and make history and literature feel alive and vibrant.
Sixth grade Sixth graders research, design, and stage an immersive exhibit, transforming an entire floor of school into a living history museum of Chinese history. They partner with the Islamic School of Rhode Island to engage in meaningful conversations about the religion of Islam, and explore the roots of Islamophobia. And they welcome new arrivals to this country in partnership with the Refugee Dream Center and raise money for books for underserved readers in Jamaica.
Seventh grade In an immersive, interdisciplinary study of wolves in Yellowstone Park, a working rancher from Montana visits Moses Brown so children can ask questions about how these animals affect his life and livelihood. And in the summer, they have the opportunity to go west and work the range, studying migration patterns and putting in a hard day’s work mending fences.
Eighth grade Moses Brown welcomes students and educators from Changle (Chang-lee) middle school in Shandong, China, and is in talks to establish a trip to Shandong for students and teachers. Talking about life, culture, and country, both at school and while hosting Chinese homestay students, broadens students’ perspectives and gives them a fresh look at their own lives. 32 | Moses Brown School
This kind of expeditionary learning is essential, because classrooms can only push a student so far. Sometimes the only thing that will do is to go out in the world and see what you find, whether that’s a new dimension to U.S. history on the Freedom Trail or a neighborhood you never knew existed in your home city. In every case, talented faculty carefully balance the presentation of essential content with the openness to let things unfold so students can improvise, explore, and discover, which is ultimately the most powerful kind of learning. Through research, field trips, guest speakers, and community connections, we bring Moses Brown classrooms to the world, and the world to our classrooms.
Ethical Leadership Sometimes moral questions are simple. Sometimes they’re not. Moses Brown uses Quaker values as a guide to keep the easy questions clear, and as a guide when things get murky. Put simply, Quakers believe that every person has a divine Inner Light, and that no one has a unique claim on the Truth. As such, everyone deserves love and respect, and bears responsibility for making the kind of community we all want to live in. We demonstrate this shared responsibility and inherent equality through the Quaker custom of having adults and students address one another by their first names. Weekly meeting for worship offers unprogrammed space for reflection, meditation, and deep thinking. When a member of our community feels moved to share, they stand and speak publicly to the group before settling back into silence, giving everyone something new to consider if they wish. Advisors help students develop conflict resolution skills and lead discussions about what it means to be a good friend. Advisories are also a time for conversations around the importance of honesty and integrity, and a place to process difficult questions with peers and trusted adults. Academic classes bring ethical questions to bear on the study of literature, history, and mathematics. At the beginning of the year, team trips build strong relationships and a sense of common purpose among students and faculty. Throughout the year, homeroom events and class discussions continuously urge students to consider the moral dimensions of academic questions. In collaborations with the Refugee Dream Center, Conversations about Reading Sessions (CARS), and the Islamic American School, middle schoolers have many opportunities to see how they can make a positive contribution to others’ lives.
Sixth grade As students enter middle school, they experience new levels of freedom and autonomy, which also means they must assume new levels of responsibility. Whether helping to wipe down lunch tables or thinking deeply about the social inequities they confront in literature, they are constantly reminded that leadership starts with being willing to serve others and making caring choices.
Seventh grade Seventh graders have ethical questions woven throughout the year. They explore questions of identity, otherness, and power dynamics in an intensive study of racial justice, and then read, write, and perform spoken-word poetry to give voice to the findings and feelings they experience along the way. In past years, some students have produced work so powerful that they’ve been invited to perform it for the entire school.
Eighth grade Eighth graders explore integrity, vulnerability, and honesty when they record an interview with a close friend or family member for StoryCorps. In the process, they are challenged to define who they are and what they believe. With that knowledge, they write a personal and honest ‘This I Believe’ essay, many of which are broadcast on Rhode Island Public Radio.
Moses Brown School | 33
Sixth grade Sixth graders learn how to devise and follow a plan to create functional objects in wood shop. They code interactive holiday cards, produce animated multimedia presentations for literature and history classes, and build cell models out of a variety of materials. They solve a mock heist using forensic analysis of DNA, and diagnose a mystery illness with their specialist knowledge of the systems of the human body.
Seventh grade Seventh graders practice thinking like historians when they research, plan, and design a field trip to Boston, and lead one another through the city. As citizen scientists, they study the conflicting interests of conservationists, ranchers, ecologists, and wolves in Yellowstone National Park. And many students volunteer to be Key Ambassadors, working with the admissions staff to show new students around their school, taking on the role of mentor for a day.
Eighth grade In their StoryCorps unit, eighth graders ask probing questions, encourage interviewees to speak candidly, and learn the technical skills to record these conversations. They are then charged to turn the lens on themselves, writing and recording a profoundly personal ‘This I Believe’ essay. In the baby project, they get a glimpse of the hard lesson every new parent learns—none of us are born experts. They learn to juggle competing urgent priorities (and empathy for their parents) while running a simulation that teaches them about privilege, inequality, and microeconomics. At the end of the year, they work in collaborative teams to display their knowledge of mathematics and simple machines by designing and building surprising and delightful Rube Goldberg machines that the entire community gathers to enjoy. By the time they cross the stage in June, they know they’re ready to apply their skills to upper school. 34 | Moses Brown School
Expert Thinking Expert thinking is knowing how to approach a problem you’ve never seen before, using whatever knowledge you possess, and balancing the confidence to offer new ideas with the humility to listen to others. Middle schoolers are developing a sense of what they know, and every school day at Moses Brown shows them new ways to apply it by improvising, experimenting, and collaborating with others. Expert Thinking encourages students to be curious, open-minded problem-solvers. Knowledge is to be used, not held, and teachers coach students’ abilities to leverage it. Ultimately, this habit helps students understand themselves as agents of change and creativity. At every step of the way, they work individually and in teams to contribute their talents and celebrate those of their classmates.
Diversity At Moses Brown School children learn to celebrate the differences between people. This stems from the Quaker belief that every person has a divine Inner Light and is equally deserving of love and respect—and shares the responsibility for making the kind of community we all want to live in. Students and teachers demonstrate this shared respect and responsibility by typically addressing one another with first names. Because of these values and cultural practices, diversity isn’t an add-on at Moses Brown—it’s part of the culture. Respect for others, and for difference, is woven into many classes in all subject areas. Additionally, discussions of implicit bias, privilege, and allyship are frequent, candid, and non-judgmental. Advisors help students develop conflict resolution skills and lead discussions about what it means to be a good friend. Daily advisory meetings help groups of students and adults address challenging questions in a safe environment, and affinity groups create additional spaces for discussions about identity. At the beginning of the year, team trips build strong relationships and a sense of common purpose among students and faculty. Throughout the year, homeroom events and class discussions continuously urge students to consider the moral dimensions of academic questions. In collaborations with the Refugee Dream Center, Conversations about Reading Sessions (CARS), and the Islamic American School, middle schoolers have many opportunities to see how they can make a positive contribution in the lives of others.
Sixth grade
Seventh grade
Eighth grade
Sixth graders establish shared language and guidelines for authentic conversation about identity and diversity to get comfortable with nuanced discussions. They question their assumptions and expand their understanding of our globalized society, and explore collaborations with the Refugee Dream Center and the Islamic School of Rhode Island.
From an exploration of civil rights and equality through the lens of spokenword poetry, service projects, and social activism opportunities like the GSA (Gender and Sexuality Awareness) club, seventh graders are frequently pushed to recognize the way diversity enriches our society. In doing so, they hone the skills they need to succeed in a global society that seeks justice for all.
Eighth graders undertake an immersive study of socioeconomic diversity as part of ‘the baby project,’ in which they play the role of parents with randomly-assigned life circumstances. Student-led discussion forums, affinity groups, and conferences give students practice discussing challenging topics and supporting one another, and the GSA student group provides support for students discovering their sexual identities. Moses Brown School | 35
After School
The school day is full of rich opportunities, dynamic discussions, and academic growth. And when it’s over, many students are in no hurry to go home—it’s easy to understand why. Once the last class is over, they can explore their interests and play with friends on Moses Brown’s beautiful 33-acre campus. They can get a snack in the Woodman Café, get their homework out of the way in the library (often with a little extra help if needed), play sports with friends and coaches who know them well, or relax with a good book under a tree.
Putting it All on Stage "Our theater program requires students to use lessons from all subjects," says Steve Kidd, director of Moses Brown's drama program. "The heart of acting is understanding another person through the careful reading of text. They have to infer, to be detectives about motives and behavior, using only the clues of words and gestures." When students sign up for the middle school musical, they enter a world of high expectations–and the nurturing support to surpass them. "Our school motto is 'For the Honor of Truth,'" says Steve, "and acting I've ever heard is this: it is living truthfully in imaginary circumstances." Steve pushes students to live truthfully on stage. "When I watch theater, I don’t give my mind and body permission to believe that what the actors say is true–if it’s well done, it just happens. If what they have to say is funny, I laugh. If it’s sad, I’m moved to tears. And that's beautiful, that we can cry for a fictional stranger’s heartache." He pushes students to bring their full hearts and minds to the work that supports the action on stage as well. "Our students design and build most of our sets. They have to understand the meaning of the work, the technical requirements to present it, and the feasibility of making changes between scenes. They can't just draw what they want–they need to use their design skills to create a model, compute the changes needed to scale it up for real actors, and then use their engineering abilities to build and test their set to ensure it safely fulfills the artistic function they envisioned." Whether using color theory to design a light plot or digging into the emotional truth of their characters, students live truthfully, empathetically, and joyfully in every production.
Arts • Middle school musical • Open studios • Music lessons • Rehearsal spaces
Academic opportunities • Mock Trial • VEX Robotics club • Math Counts
Athletics • Soccer • Field hockey • L acrosse • B aseball, softball, and more!
Healthy socializing • Woodman Café • L ibrary (with academic support) • Fields and playgrounds
36 | Moses Brown School
Moses Brown School | 37
38 | Moses Brown School