Encore-8 Courses

ended scenarios, role-playing, songs, pair-work, music, videos and filming, and also may establish letter or email exchanges with students in Chinese, French, or Spanish-speaking schools. At the end of the year, eighth grade teachers recommend placement for the ninth grade classes.

Chinese-Level C

Students learn more about the customs, cultures, and history of China through lessons/activities.

French-Level C

As part of the language study, students continue to learn about the customs of France and some Francophone countries, including holidays and traditions.

Spanish-Level C

Cultural study continues of holidays, customs, and daily life in selected Hispanic countries.

ENCORE-8 COURSES

Athletics-7/8

During the year, seventh and eighth grade students are required to participate in three sports seasons (with the limited option of petitioning to be excused from one season a year for an “alternate outside activity”). There are usually two or three teams for each sport. Practice is held Monday through Friday from 2:45 to 4:15 p.m. (fall and spring), 2:30-4:00 p.m. (winter). Games usually begin at 3:30 p.m. and end at approximately 5:30 p.m. (Sixth grade students take physical education, which includes units in all of the sports offered at Friends).

Fall (practice daily, 2:45 - 4:15, later end time on game days) Soccer (boys’) • Football (boys’, see A and B team weight designations below)

A Team Division Weight Limit:

Offensive Linemen—unlimited from tackle to tackle

Offensive Ends—145 lb. limitation

Offensive Backs and Ball Carriers—125 lbs. limitation

Defensive Down Linemen—unlimited weight

Defensive Linebackers, Ends, and Backs—145 lbs. limitation

B Team Division Weight Limit:

Down Linemen—145 lbs. limitation

Backs and Ends—125 lbs. limitation • Field Hockey (girls’) • Volleyball (girls’, limited to 24 players) • Cross Country (coed team)

Winter (practice daily, 2:30 - 4:00, later end time on game days) • Basketball (boys’ and girls’, limited to 30 players each team) • Wrestling (boys’) • Indoor Track (coed team) Spring (practice daily, 2:45 - 4:15, later end time on game days) • Baseball (boys’, limited to 16 players) • Lacrosse (girls’ and boys’) • Soccer (girls’) • Tennis (coed team—limited to 24 players)

Computer Science-8

The eighth grade Computer Science curriculum builds on the problem-solving skills developed in previous years. The course focuses on exposing students to real-world problems for which they have to design, build, and test various solutions with enduser specifications. Although the students generate a product, the application/program design process is a main focus.

The first half of the course focuses on programming and algorithmic thinking as students build on their basic skills. Students investigate and implement processes that form the basis of computer science, with topics including variables, sorting, and graphs, and also expand their knowledge of programming languages and environments. Throughout the year, students employ computer science as a tool to enhance other studies, performing cross-curricular projects such as using spreadsheets to analyze data from science experiments and building HTML websites based on social studies reports. Students also investigate modern technology from the perspectives of both hardware (the functions of computer components) and software (internet operations and computer security).

Human Dynamics and Development-8: Decision Making and Capstone Investigation

In this alternating seminar course, students enrich their decision-making skills and utilized scheduled time to pursue their Capstone Investigation. In Decision Making students enhance their self-awareness, develop perspective on the internal and external forces acting upon them, and broaden their knowledge about healthy/unhealthy behaviors. The course does not seek to instill values, but is designed to provide students with an opportunity for clarification of their own. Students identify their personal decision-making styles, learn a decision-making rubric and practice using it in practical, authentic applications. They explore the external factors that influence decisions and learn factual information needed to make informed decisions about matters affecting their emotional and physical health.

Students periodically use the class period to attend to their Capstone Investigations. A student’s Capstone Investigation asks them to explore something (a topic, a question, a goal, a hobby, a solution to a problem, etc.) that they find meaningful to themselves and others through disciplined investment of their time, energy, and creativity. The culminating product of the investigation involves the presentation of evidence showing the process of learning, growth, planning, adaptation, discovery, communication, time management, resilience, mindfulness, collaboration, creativity, inquiry and engagement applied to the fulfillment of the investigation.