Preparing students for success
Middle School is a time of big changes academically, physically, socially, and emotionally. At York Prep, we understand how important these years are as students grow from children into young adults, learning more about who they are and how they learn best. That’s why we’ve designed our middle school to be both supportive and challenging, meeting students right where they are and helping them build the skills and confidence they’ll need for high school and beyond.
With intentionally small classes and a 4:1 student-teacher ratio, our middle school creates space for strong relationships, personalized instruction, and a deep sense of belonging. Our program focuses on developing critical thinking, strong study habits, and a spirit of curiosity and collaboration. As students begin to take more ownership of their learning and grow more independent, they are guided by caring educators who know when to step in and when to step back.
Whether students are navigating a tough math concept, participating in a class debate, or learning how to work through conflict with a peer, they are gaining tools that will serve them for years to come.
A curriculum designed to motivate students
York Prep middle school’s curriculum goes beyond academics and supports children to explore the community around them. Rooted in skill-building, students create a toolbox of skills and strategies that support their executive functioning development and understanding of metacognition.
Grounded in a culture of warmth and care, students are taught how to build and sustain social connections, engage in community service projects, and interact with the greater New York Community.
Middle School Curriculum
English
6th Grade: Students engage with literature, and receive instruction in grammar, vocabulary, and writing.
They focus on discovering common themes among different literary works, making connections between literature read in class and our society today. Students are guided through the writing process and develop skills for communicating effectively.
7th Grade: Students examine themes of identity. They are encouraged to discover their own voices through writing assignments and projects. Students gain understanding of how storytelling shapes people’s personal and collective histories.
8th Grade: Focuses on character development, symbolism, themes, and other literary devices. Students read fiction and nonfiction, and are guided through notetaking, annotating text, and responding to literature throughout the writing process. Students think about main ideas, sentence structure, paragraph formation, and inference topics.
History
6th Grade: The course introduces students to a survey of the people and places of the world with the purpose of providing a broad global overview.
7th Grade: Students study the early ages of human history through the dawn of modern civilization. Students begin in the pre-historic era with a look at human origins, examining with an “archaeologist’s eye view,” how humans migrated around the world and built societies. They explore the world’s first civilizations that developed in Egypt, the Middle East, India and China, concluding with an exploration of the classical societies of Greece and Rome.
8th Grade: Students focus on character development, symbolism, themes, and other literary devices. Students read fiction and nonfiction, and are guided through notetaking, annotating text, and responding to literature throughout the writing process. Students think about main ideas, sentence structure, paragraph formation, and inference topics.
Math
6th Grade: This course is an of assessment for mathematical readiness and preparation for future mathematics, as well as expanding student knowledge of foundational concepts and procedures.
Students will improve their understanding of operations, data and graphs, patterns and variables, number theory and fractions, ratios, rates, percentages, numerical equivalency, equations and inequalities, geometry, integers, probability, and data analysis.
7th Grade: This class reinforces middle school problem-solving concepts such as ratios and proportional analyses, operations with fractions, equivalency, geometry, and statistics while introducing the foundations of algebra.
8th Grade: The last middle school course provides preparation for Algebra 1. Learners encounter the fundamentals of Algebra through middle school math concepts such as integers, rational numbers, the coordinate plane, proportionality, percentages, equations and inequalities, geometry, measurement, and statistics. Students learn the fundamentals of parent functions while improving numeric reasoning, cooperative learning, and real-world problem-solving methods.
Science
6th Grade: Students explore Earth Science, delving into geology, meteorology, astronomy, and environmental science, learning about Earth's dynamic processes and celestial phenomena.
7th Grade: In this course, the focus shifts to life science, where students study genetics, human biology, and the diversity of living organisms through hands-on activities and investigations.
8th Grade: At this level, students dive into physics and chemistry, exploring the properties of matter, laws of motion, energy transformations, and atoms, building a solid foundation for future scientific studies. Throughout all grades, we emphasize the development of scientific literacy skills.
Writing Studies
6th Grade: Students learn core language concepts that will enhance their ability to effectively read and write at a developmentally appropriate level.
Targeted instruction for writing skills includes learning sentence level skills like incorporating conjunction words, appositives, combining and expanding sentences. Students will learn skills and strategies to enhance their written expression guided by methods from The Writing Revolution (Hochman, Wexler 2017).
7th Grade: Learners master the concepts of key words and phrases, abbreviations, and symbols when annotating text, while also building on their sentence expansion skills. While mastering their sentence skills, students learn how to effectively use the SPO (Single Paragraph Outline) to plan and organize their writing for different text structures. As a skills-based class, students will become stronger readers and writers through the examination of expository texts.
8th Grade: Middle schoolers prepare for the upper school using a variety of strategies starting at the sentence level and working toward multiple paragraph compositions. Students master the concepts of key words and phrases, abbreviations, and symbols when annotating text, while also building on their sentence expansion skills to apply to written compositions.
Art
6th & 7th Grade: Students take one semester of performing arts and one semester of visual arts.
The programs have previously included digital songwriting, choreography, dance performances, theater games, dramatic writing exercises, dramatic scene work, and the artistic elements of design.
8th Grade: Students choose an arts elective in either the performing or visual arts for the entire year. Elective options rotate annually.
STEAM
Have you ever wondered how we built the Brooklyn Bridge, sent a human to the moon, or how your Bluetooth speaker connects to your phone? Our weekly middle school STEAM class allows students to apply the skills learned in their math and science coursework to hands on projects and exploration.
Students will learn basic coding skills, the fundamentals of electrical and mechanical engineering and walk through the design process.
Spanish
In middle school, all Spanish classes have a new curriculum called Comprehensible Classrooms SOMOS. This curriculum uses a "comprehensible input" approach, similar to how a baby learns their native language.
Students will learn grammar and vocabulary through a more natural input-based method like storytelling and songs. Activities and assignments include reading, writing, listening, and speaking, to give students a natural integration to the language.
Physical Education
Sportsmanship, cooperation, and teamwork are at the heart of the PE department. In grades 6-8, the focus is on building appropriate skills for successful participation in PE.
Executive Functioning
Executive functioning skills are intentionally woven into every aspect of the academic experience to support student growth and independence.
Across all subjects, students consistently use planners, checklists, and graphic organizers. A single-paragraph outline for writing is implemented, helping students internalize a structured approach to written expression.
Middle School Advisory
The focus of the middle school advisory program is on looking within to learn more about yourself as a learner and a citizen, building & sustaining social connections, community service projects, and on exploring and interacting with the community around York Prep.
Each grade level has a different central focus in their advisory class. These foci build on each other as students move through their middle school years, culminating in their final preparations for a smooth transition to the Upper School.
Built into the advisory program are opportunities for students to leave campus, explore their city, and build lasting friendships that go beyond the classroom.
6th Grade: Self & City
Student Reflection: Students reflect on how they learn best, which strategies help them learn effectively, how to communicate their learning needs to teachers, and to identify their strengths and challenges as a foundation for self-advocacy.
Community Participation: Through field trips and community events, students: explore the local neighborhood, develop a sense of place as New Yorkers, and understand their role and impact within the greater community.
7th Grade: Discovering Passions & Deepening Purpose
Expanding Executive Functioning: Students continue to strengthen their executive functioning toolkit, developing strategies for organization, time management, and self-monitoring that apply across all subject areas.
Empowering Self-Advocacy: Through a dedicated self-advocacy curriculum, students learn to speak up for themselves and others in both real-world and digital spaces, preparing them to navigate life confidently in the classroom, the city, and online.
8th Grade: Leading by Example, Learning by Doing
Engaging in Real-World Experiences: Students choose to participate in either a mini-internship or a service-learning project, gaining hands-on experience that connects their interests to potential future paths in high school and beyond.
Preparing for Upper School and Beyond: Advisors, in collaboration with the college guidance team, introduce students to resume building, goal setting for 9th grade, and opportunities for community engagement, equipping them to enter high school with confidence and clarity.
Middle School Extra-curricular Activities
Electives
Students have the opportunity to explore their creative passions and try new things through a year-long, rotating arts elective program.
Dance
Music
Studio Art
Visual Art
Digital Art
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