POLY MIDDLE SCHOOL
THE POLY EXPERIENCE: VITALITY, ENGAGEMENT, AND PURPOSE Why choose Poly? Academic excellence. Diversity. Arts. Athletics. The reasons are as multifaceted as the student body and as diverse as Brooklyn itself. All begin, however, from a shared desire to enable students to live a life of purpose and meaning, in middle school and beyond. How do we do it? In the Middle School, we begin by recognizing the profound transformations that occur in a child’s life during these years. Students grow intellectually, emotionally, and physically from 5th to 8th grade. That growth is at once exciting and sometimes unnerving. How do we empower our students to embrace these changes and make the most of them, not least by developing habits of mind, body and character that will serve them, and their communities, throughout their lives? Poly’s Middle School nurtures curious, broad-minded, and empathetic thinkers who grapple with difficult concepts, question what they see and hear, and are conscientious of their impact on the world,
near and far. Poly faculty and staff remain alongside them every step of the way, promoting their development as thinkers and doers, their engagement with the arts, and their confidence on the athletic fields. Our students’ emerging intellectual acuity, like their newfound strength and height, signal their readiness to seize moments of growth and change. Join us as we support and celebrate them in their journey. Together, we will prepare and inspire the next diverse generation of leaders and global citizens to act with intelligence, imagination and, above all, character.
The Country Day School Experience At Poly, we have—since our origin—redefined the meaning of school. School is not a way station to life; it is life itself. And the life of our day school is multifaceted, vibrant, and always interesting. Middle School students draw on our expansive, beautiful campus and its resources in order to continue and extend their learning beyond the classroom— in clubs, athletic activities, rehearsals, art studios, and in building relationships among each other and with their teachers. Because real life is where we are, right here, right now.
M I D D LE SCH OO L D E A N S
Support, Guidance, Relationships Our students benefit from a unique dean system carefully structured to provide them with highly individualized guidance throughout their Poly journey. On entering the Middle School, students are assigned a dean who will help them design an academic schedule reflective of their interests and goals, monitor their progress, and partner with them to ensure their fullest participation in the life of the school. Guide, confidant, cheerleader, organizational coach, and seer, the dean is that gentle advocate who ensures that each child is seen, heard and supported on the path to greater independence and personal agency.
Academic Excellence The Middle School curriculum is deliberately designed to nurture students’ emerging understanding of our complex world and promote their active engagement with it. Interdisciplinary approaches to learning and an emphasis on hands-on inquiry offer students a variety of tools for satisfying their natural curiosity. From 5th grade, when students first learn from subject-specific teachers, sample a variety of world languages, and research and present historical evidence, to 8th grade, when they engage in Socratic seminars, design their own rockets, and undertake capstone projects on contemporary issues, our Middle Schoolers are building core skills in literacy, analysis, computation, and the scientific method. Equally important, they are recognizing that their ability to ask questions, work collaboratively, and indulge their creativity are essential aspects of the learning process. What does this mean in practice? Below is a sample of a Poly Middle School student’s academic experiences: • • • • • •
Group collaboration to design polyhedra The Journeys to Freedom Festival Observations of campus flora and fauna Independent research and presentation of ancient artifacts The Billion Oyster Project Simulation of the U.S. Constitutional Convention
• • • • • •
3-D design and printing A “Coming of Age” fiction study Sustainability projects The Bearns Public Speaking Contest Curricular travel to Boston and Philadelphia Courses in Spanish, French, Mandarin, and Latin
What is the result? A community of young learners who are unafraid to challenge themselves, embrace new experiences, make logical inferences based on evidence, and clearly communicate their ideas, both verbally and in writing.
Arts Since prehistoric times, humans have been compelled to express themselves through art. But what is art and how do we both understand and interrogate it, across the millennia and in the present? At Poly, students are encouraged to tap into their own powers of artistic perception and creation. Our outstanding visual and performing arts faculties and beautiful performance and exhibition spaces inspire students to leap into acts of artistic expression as varied and unique as they themselves are, and through art, to understand our common humanity. In the Middle School, highlights of students’ artistic experiences include the following: • • • •
Sketching, painting, collage, sculpture, and ceramics Improvisational theater, scriptwriting, and kinesthetic technique Explorations in music— brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion instruments The 7th and 8th grade play and musical
• • • • •
The Spring Dance Concert Tower Singers Middle School Band Winter and Spring Arts Festivals 8th Grade Collaboration with the Brooklyn Museum
Our students are encouraged to let their imaginations run wild, because nothing is more productive, essential, or beautiful than the art that springs from their hearts and minds.
Athletics At Poly, we celebrate the nexus of mind and body with a robust athletic program that promotes physical literacy and development in which students acquire the foundational movement skills to serve them throughout their lives. Discipline, resilience, confidence, and strategic thinking are as important on our fields, courts, and pools as they are in our classrooms. The Middle School physical education program introduces students to most sports a student may play at Poly. Team and individual sports are taught by the same staff who coach our award-winning varsity teams and are structured around a balanced schedule of training, practice, competition, and recovery so that students develop as healthy, agile, motivated athletes.
N URTU R I N G TH E N E X T G E N E R ATI O N O F LE A D E R S
Poly’s Institute for Ethics and Leadership Character education has been a feature of our mission since the school’s founding in 1854. Today, our commitment to educating individuals whose integrity and ethics guide them in everything they do finds expression not only in our classrooms, but also in the Institute for Ethics and Leadership. IfEL is comprised of four pillars which function both individually and collectively: • Community engagement • Diversity, equity, and social justice
• Sustainability • Well-being
Each pillar is represented by cutting-edge curriculum and programming that actively engage students in the work of building a better world. Led by its expert directors, IfEL’s work underscores how interdependent individual, communal, and environmental well-being are, and how dependent we all are on the next generation of leaders to craft ingenious solutions to our most vexing problems.
What’s Your Poly Dream? Is it to... Learn about yourself, your community, and the world? Develop the academic skills and habits of mind that will fuel your desire to discover, understand, share, and create? Become more confident, independent, and open to new ideas? Develop friendships that will make the happy times more meaningful and the challenging ones more bearable? Forge relationships with teachers and Upper School students who will serve as role models for years to come? How about all of the above? A Poly education is a joyful, rigorous, life-changing experience. And our Middle School is where it begins on this beautiful, vibrant campus.
Lower School 50 Prospect Park West Brooklyn, NY 11215 718-768-1103
Middle & Upper Schools 9216 Seventh Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11228 718-836-9800