Program Overview

Middle School Program

The Middle School Program at BASIS Independent Schools is designed to build strong foundational knowledge in a wide variety of subjects and foster student autonomy and self-discipline necessary for critical inquiry.

The Curriculum

The BASIS Curriculum is rooted in the liberal arts and sciences, providing one of the most robust middle school programs available. Students complete a rigorous schedule in all core disciplines, including three separate, concurrent science classes (biology, chemistry, and physics), and a world language. They can select an elective beginning in grade 6 and a world language option in grades 7 and above. The spiral of the curriculum is essential in these grades, particularly regarding the revisiting of concepts in the sciences in greater depth with each passing year, as students prepare for entry into Honors or Advanced Placement® (AP) level coursework starting in grade 9.

Subject Expert Teachers

Middle school students are taught exclusively by a different Subject Expert Teacher (SET) in each class. SETs are professionals with degrees or experience in the subjects they teach. In middle school classrooms, deep expertise combined with the passion the teachers feel for their discipline yield a highly effective environment for maximizing learning gains and student interest in complex material.

Student Autonomy

Middle school is when students focus on building two critical skills: the organization of complex tasks and the productive management of time. By empowering students through guidance, support, and proper encouragement, they learn to assess what they need to do to improve their grades or skills, become proactive problem solvers, and meet high expectations. All teachers offer weekly student hours, and extensive student support helps learners identify the many school resources to help them achieve their goals.

Program Outcomes

At the beginning of each year, teachers issue a syllabus that includes an overview of the course and topics covered in their class. Beyond subject-specific goals centered on academic readiness for the next level, the Middle School Program generally aims for students to be prepared and confident to move on to the advanced High School Program. In middle school, students:

• Master fundamental concepts and utilize explorative, creative thinking that prepares them to fully tackle college-level coursework in high school.
  • Have every opportunity to take control of their education, discover their own interests and passions via extracurricular options, and build relationships around them.
  • Learn to feel confident in their decision-making processes and in themselves as learners through real-time feedback in the classroom, student support, and their own self-assessments.
  • Retain and improve knowledge in courses that are thoughtfully designed and spiraled, where topics are revisited year over year to ensure mastery in all core disciplines.