EDUCATION
Meet Me in the Middle Metro Atlanta’s private schools make a difference during the middle grade years
Atlanta International School
High Meadows School
Atlanta Academy
By Amy Meadows
S
o often, we hear about the importance of early education and how impactful the elementary years can be for children. We also focus quite a bit on those all-encompassing high school years, when college is right around the corner and key life decisions are being made by our teenagers. However, in many cases, the middle school years get lost in that discussion. But these pivotal grades, during which tweens and early teens are trying to find their footing and adapt to new educational and individual challenges, are equally as important as the ones that come both before and after them. Fortunately, metro Atlanta’s private schools have risen to the challenge, mak44 KNOWAtlanta SPRING 2021
ing those middle grade years as welcoming and meaningful as possible. Here, KNOWAtlanta Magazine offers a glimpse of the various approaches taken and opportunities provided by some of the area’s most renowned independent schools.
Atlanta Academy atlantaacademy.com Location: Roswell Grades: 6 through 8 The Middle School Difference: Atlanta Academy strives to support students as they emerge from their elementary years. The cornerstones of the middle school experience are achievement, leadership,
organization, creativity, self-discipline and social responsibility, and there are high expectations surrounding these tenets. Unique Academic and Extracurricular Offerings: The Innovation Center provides state-of-the-art tools and a place for students to bring technology and design together in areas like photography, augmented reality, virtual reality and more. A Stock and Finance class teaches students how the market economy works and how to invest in the stock market. And students may join the award-winning debate team, which has won the North Metro Middle School Debate Championship the past 12 of 15 years.
