CREATING GOOD GLOBAL CITIZENS
MISSION STATEMENT Respect for children and trust in their inherent enthusiasm for learning are central to the design of Sparhawk' School's educational processes and objectives. Our purpose is to provide a foundation of academic strength, to facilitate critical and creative thinking and to nurture qualities of character in our students that will sustain them throughout their lifetimes, whatever challenges and adventures may come.
THE SPARHAWK STUDENT At Sparhawk, students become strong, independent selfadvocates. They expand their critical and creative thinking skills in and out of the classroom. They ask questions, thrive in an environment of inquiry where character is as important as academic rigor, and they believe in bettering themselves and the world. Our students engage with the global community through service, education, and travel. They have a profound generosity of spirit and respect the culture of kindness they have built at Sparhawk School. Sparhawk students maintain their individualities while building a community that supports academic exploration, hands-on learning, and civic engagement.
Our experience has shown us that students learn best through a variety of modalities, and they value authentic learning experiences. For this reason our surrounding community serves as a second classroom. Students learn and explore on our campus, take regular field trips to local habitats, partner with local historical institutions such as Lowell’s Boat Shop and perform community service regularly. We take great pride in knowing that we are helping students become good global citizens and, for middle schoolers that begins with the local community. In addition, our students learn about goal-setting, problem-solving, community, teamwork, dedication and responsibility through the fundraising efforts that they spearhead each year. The proceeds of their hard work pays for their class trip at the end of the year.
100%
OF OUR STUDENTS PERFORM COMMUNITY SERVICE
THE ARTS AT SPARHAWK At Sparhawk the arts are an integral part of our curriculum. At the middle school level, our students may choose from a variety of arts electives and enrichments. Each trimester the students choose two electives that delve into a particular thematic topic or focus on specific mediums, tools, or styles from the art, music and theater offerings. We believe that experiences in the arts are essential and that they are a value for one’s entire lifetime. The abstract, symbolic nature of the arts is a valid and powerful means of searching for and sharing fundamental questions and truths about the human experience. Participation in the arts inspires creativity, fosters the development of problem-solving, critical-thinking, and literacy skills, and builds self esteem and character. These experiences and the insight, confidence, and will-to-effort that result, transfer to endeavors in other arenas as well, in the present and across time.
‘‘The thing that impresses me most about Sparhawk School is the happiness on the kid's faces, the kindness they show one another, and the trust and respect they have for each other. It's a true reflection on the staff and how the kids are treated at the school.’’ ~ Sparhawk Parent
EXPERIENTIAL SCIENCE Science classes at Sparhawk Middle School are designed to enthrall and inspire students with the wonders of the natural world, while instructing them in existing knowledge, facts, vocabulary, tools, and processes that are used by professional scientists in their quests for ever-increasing information and understanding. Science is a grand adventure because it is a discipline that uses what we know, so far, to investigate what we do not know yet - a natural for adolescent minds because everything can–and should—be questioned. When taught joyously, students learn that it is a domain for explorers and its frontier is endless in scope and time. Our goal is to initiate students into what is possible in this fascinating field of study that requires both discipline and creativity. Our curriculum is a three-year cycle that spans six domains of science: physics, chemistry, earth science, astronomy, biology, and “energy and transformation” that includes electromagnetism, color, light, sound, lenses, mirrors, solar energy, electricity, and electronics.
‘‘A truly inspiring school where teachers love teaching and children are part of a community surrounded by respect and encouragement. My son is highly motivated in part because his teachers never fail to challenge him or encourage him to take risks.’’ ~ Sparhawk Parent
WORLD LANGUAGE
In middle school, students have the choice of learning French or Spanish. Each is a beautiful language and the selection of one now does not preclude the learning of another one (or two) in our high school, where we offer French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and mentored study in several other languages. World language classes are highly interactive and organic; students learn first through speaking and listening (i.e. the way that we learn our primary language) and then, as they progress, they read and write with ever-higher levels of ease and fluency. Students enjoy creating artwork, cooking traditional foods and acting out plays with cultural significance to the language they are studying. Teachers present material through the lenses of the Multiple Intelligences and incorporate culture as context. In this way, students understand how ideas are expressed in the language they are studying. World language class is not just about language, it is another way in which our students learn to be good global citizens. Here they ponder different ways of living and looking at the world and broaden their understanding of their place in it.
108 AVERAGE # OF HOURS SPENT ON WORLD LANGUAGE YEARLY
HISTORY @ SPARHAWK
HISTORY COMES TO LIFE The primary focus of the history program at Sparhawk Middle School is the study of human endeavor and achievement. People can be good; they can be industrious and they have not only survived, they have thrived. This alone would be incomplete, of course without the study of human foibles, including war and other examples of cruelty and intolerance. The investigation of human activity, where considerations of right and wrong occur, can be complex, sometimes contextual, or controversial, and in other cases, impossible to decide. We embrace the intellectual exercise these issues offer At Sparhawk, we take a hands-on approach to learning, that’s why we have developed a program we call History Live. In this program, we guide our students in experiential and project-based learning, theatrical presentations and thematic field trips in order for students to fully grasp the history and culture of the humans they are studying. Pictured to the left are examples of our History Live explorations where our students re-enacted roles in the ancient Egyptian civilization. Students mummified chickens, built pyramids & tombs, role-played the parts of scribes, priests, and artists and presented their knowledge of Egyptian science, art and hieroglyphics.
‘‘Teaching, I am convinced, is not about us being brilliant; it is about students being brilliant. It’s about them, after all. And the only way they can do this is to give them the generous gift of time and receptivity.’’ ~Thomas Newkirk
LANGUAGE ARTS LANGUAGE ARTS OVERVIEW
A COMMUNITY OF READERS
Sparhawk School’s academically and artistically rich approach to reading, literary analysis, critical thinking, writing, speaking and listening, is the keystone of our interdisciplinary humanities curriculum. Language skills are the primary means by which students gain access to the world's great stores of knowledge. The more developed the skills, the more sophisticated the access. The development of those skills is the work of middle school.
Reading is foundational, and we work to develop, nurture, and strengthen a love of reading in our community. Students are challenged to seek out books that speak to them, to stories they connect to personally, to lose themselves in “The Reading Zone”, and to fall in love with reading. Each week, different students present book talks, in which they describe, read from, and lead discussions about books they’ve read. In this way, students keep one another informed and inspired about books, and we maintain a conversation about literature that becomes a life habit.
WRITING WORKSHOP Good writing exhibits characteristics that we can name, and the starting point of our genre studies is reading and analyzing published authors’ work. Students first work together to identify what makes a good free-verse poem or an effective memoir, and then they work to express themselves with these things in mind. Our writing curriculum helps students identify methods that work for them while they work to craft pieces that exhibit the characteristics of good writing. Like professional writers, we work in various genres, and students choose the topics they write about in each genre.
As the students’ language arts skills improve, confidence grows, and they are able to apply the writing process effectively in their other classes. They express their knowledge concisely and accurately in science, synthesize information and form their own opinions based on research in history, express sensory, emotional and metaphysical experiences in poetry, and articulate proofs, principles, and conceptual understanding in math. They learn to value and use logical arguments, both in responding to literature and in writing research papers.
TYPES OF
MATHEMATICS
MATH AT SPARHAWK During middle school, students mature rapidly and at Sparhawk, expectations grow accordingly. Our small class sizes, often ten or fewer students, make it feasible for teachers to observe, question, challenge and design tailored and responsive instruction. Beyond sharpening students’ logical and mathematical thinking, we also realize that studies in mathematics help students take responsibility for their learning and demonstrate self-discipline (through practice, failure, more practice, and success) in ways that differ from other subjects. As students become more responsible and disciplined, they mature as individuals. The placement and advancement of students in math is decided after considering assessment testing, social and emotional maturity, and grade-level benchmarks. Based on these factors, students are placed in a class that will challenge them appropriately as they grow. In addition to their core math classes, students are also enrolled in an applied math lab, to bridge classroom learning with real life experience. The geodesic dome pictured to the left, was built by the middle school students during their applied math class.
‘‘My three children have attended Sparhawk over the past eleven years. Each has been nurtured as a student and a person. They have learned to love learning, make good friends, and want to engage with big ideas.’’
~ Sparhawk Parent
ADMISSIONS PROCEDURE
DEFINING MOMENT
contact our Admissions Department via email at Admissions@SparhawkSchool.com or give us a call at 978.388.5354.
MAKING SPARHAWK A REALITY
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SparhawkSchool.com Admissions@SparhawkSchool.com 978.388.5354
EXPERIENCE SPARHAWK
Sparhawk Middle & Upper School 4 Noel Street | Amesbury, MA 01913