Middle School (5-8)

Distinguished Academics

In Hathaway Brown’s Middle School, girls are challenged, nurtured, mentored, and celebrated every day. They have many opportunities to try and try again. The curriculum presents a world of possibilities that ignite a student's passions and interests.

English

Math

In Middle School Mathematics girls build deep conceptual meaning and fluent manipulative skills as they tackle problem-solving situations that deepen their understanding of the real number system.

Students connect mathematical ideas, take their ideas public during discourse-based discussions and build a strong mathematical foundation. Number sense, generalized arithmetic, spatial problem solving, measurement and data analysis are woven into a coherent curriculum.

Science

In Science students have the opportunity to explore while nurturing their interest and fostering their perceptions of science. At all grade levels, a variety of investigative science activities are offered to challenge each girl.

Students are encouraged to conduct research projects that stress the scientific method of inquiry. Many students are invited to participate in regional and state-wide competitions.

History

The History Department empowers girls to be critical thinkers, powerful writers, and thoughtful citizens. Students gain an understanding and appreciation of their own and other cultures by studying history and its effects on the present and future.

History is taught as an interdisciplinary subject, integrating art, literature, music, and science. Instruction is enhanced through the use of primary sources, technology integration, classroom simulations, debates and field trips.

World Languages

The World Language Department inspires girls to love language learning. With practical application and intersecting language and culture, students begin in the fifth grade and continue through their eighth grade year with their choice of French or Spanish. The curriculum targets Language usage and focuses on proficiency in writing and speaking.

Students can complete two levels of high school-equivalent courses which can place them in a third-level language once they begin Upper School.

Performing Arts

With a solid commitment to excellence, the Performing Arts program nurtures creativity in girls and develops their potential as artists in Music, Dance, and Theatre.

Students are required to take Music classes throughout their Middle School experience, and in seventh and eighth grades, Theatre and Dance are added to their performing arts repertoire.

The music curriculum is grounded in the Orff-Schulwerk tradition, a philosophy integrating creative movement, singing, and instrument playing. Each grade level shares their competency in an annual performance.

Visual Arts

Physical Education

Physical Education reinforces students’ understanding and application of team strategies, fitness concepts, and motor skills through a variety of movement forms. The curriculum promotes students' personal and social responsibility, self-management skills, and ability to make informed choices in the pursuit of a physically active and healthy lifestyle.

Swimming provides each girl with lifesaving skills that include physical competence and emotional confidence in the water. Stroke techniques are emphasized for efficiency and endurance as well as creating advanced water skills. Activities such as diving, synchronized swimming, canoeing/kayaking, and water polo are part of the curriculum.

Wellness

Middle School Wellness examines and anticipates developmental stages for girls and encourages students to recognize their responsibility for physical and emotional well-being.

The curriculum provides students with research and information on topics necessary to make healthy choices at all stages of their lives. Some of these important issues are:

substance use and abuse
smoking
nutrition and body image
girls and the mass media
human sexuality
disease
adolescent development
friendships
peer pressure
and decision making

Technology, Computer Science, and Engineering

For students to excel at problem-solving in all subject areas, skills in critical thinking, logic, and creativity are imperative, and instruction in technology, computer science, and engineering are important factors in that development. To that end, every Middle School student is assigned an HB email address, and has daily access to her own iPad as an organizational and productivity tool.

The fifth and sixth-grade Computer Science course focuses on coding, robotics, and keyboarding. Sixth graders take Introduction to IDEAs, where they spend a semester learning how to use tools in our IDEA Lab (Invention, Design, Engineering, Art), including 3-D printers, laser cutters, electronics sets, and much more.

The seventh and eighth grade Exploring Computer Science course fulfills an Upper School requirement, and covers computing and its major components. Learning HTML and CSS, as well as Scratch and Python, enables students to create personalized projects.

By the end of eighth grade, all Middle School students have also been instructed in the use of major software applications and other technologies, including digital cameras and video production tools.

Empowered Girls

In addition to all the great things HB Middle School girls learn in the classroom, there are many opportunities to stretch their boundaries, try new things, and grow as empowered young woman.

The Middle School Academies, Science Research, and WEST Fellowships are a few of the exploratory and innovative programs that capitalize on students’ interests and extend their learning. Middle School leadership and service opportunities are embedded into the fabric of the curriculum, as well as in extracurricular options. These activities for leadership and service develop a sense of responsibility and care for HB’s extended community.

Our Daughters Are Unlimited

For nearly 150 years, HB girls have defied expectations, shattered glass ceilings, and blazed their own trails.

SCHEDULE A VISIT or COMPLETE AN INQUIRY FORM to provide your daughter with unbounded possibilities.

Advisor Program

Each Middle School girl is assigned to an advisor group and faculty advisor. The program provides support for every girl as the advisor-student relationship facilitates integration into and success within the HB community. By providing a small group setting within the larger community, the advisor group fosters camaraderie, respect, and appreciation for each individual's talents.

The advisor helps each student formulate goals and work toward achieving them, while also serving as the liaison between home and school. Essentially, the advisor helps link school resources and opportunities to the needs of the girl.

HB’s unique social-emotional learning practices and program grow within the advisory program.

Academies

Girls explore interests and discover new ones in an elective course that takes a deep dive into a topic, free from assessment. A wide variety of Academies, many outside the traditional curriculum, are offered such as

broadcasting and media creation
creative arts
health and well-being
forensics
outdoor adventures and more

Seventh and eighth graders choose from more than 25 Academy course offerings to develop skills such as cooperative learning, critical thinking, and curiosity that instill the school's motto: "Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus—We Learn Not for School, But for Life."

teacher helping middle school student with art project

Learning Strategies

Girls who participate in Learning Strategies benefit from additional writing and study skill instruction. Girls become increasingly empowered learners by identifying organizational patterns in reading and writing, improving reading comprehension and writing fluency.

They learn to plan, pause, and reflect while reading and commit to proofreading and editing before considering a paper finished. Addressing time management challenges is another recurrent theme as is advocating for themselves with greater ease and effectiveness.

Science Research

HB scientists are questioning, hypothesizing, designing, and experimenting their way to new and exciting discoveries in the Science Research program.

Seventh and eighth-grade girls with an interest for science and passion for inquiry select a topic of interest and independently research and develop a project implementing original experimentation and relevant scientific investigation.

The Science Research program culminates at the HB Science and Engineering Fair. Students report their findings, interpret their results, and present their data for judges selected from science-based fields. In addition to competing in the science fair, students can participate in local and regional competitions.

WEST Fellowship

Passion, focus, determination, and perseverance are the essential characteristics of a Hathaway Brown WEST Fellow — a Woman Engaged in Scholarly Thought.

Seventh and eighth-grade girls in the program pursue a personal passion through independent study. Girls explore a topic for up to two years and are provided with the mentorship and financial support necessary to complete the independent study project. The result is a finished product which the student presents to the HB community. WEST projects can be a research paper, publication, performance, original composition, digital media, website, e-business, art, and so much more!

Adventure Learning

Trust, risk-taking, goal-setting, resilience, and cooperation are traits HB’s signature Adventure Learning program instills in the girls, starting in fifth grade and continuing through Middle School.

The state-of-the-art outdoor course and indoor elements create opportunities to meet holistic needs of each student through adventure-based activities.

Girls learn life lessons as they establish relationships and trust among their peers, foster confidence in themselves, explore risk-taking challenges, build resilience, and learn to communicate, cooperate, and problem solve.

Class Trips

Middle School girls travel overnight for experiences that span the curricula while creating meaningful memories to cherish for a lifetime.. Fifth grade travels back in time at Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. Sixth graders explore their global community at Heifer International’s Global Village in Michigan. Seventh graders set sail to Sea Camp on Cape Cod as part of a yearlong study of Environmental Science. And eighth graders visit Washington, D.C. to complement to U.S. History curriculum.

International Travel

Middle School students practice their language skills, (or learn new ones!) through international Middle School travel. Seventh and eighth-grade girls travel with HB faculty to a French or Spanish-speaking country.

The alternating trips to France or Panama have action-packed itineraries to experience the history, culture, and language of another country and even include adventure or service learning experiences.

Civic Engagement

At HB, students participate in a variety of hands-on service projects, outreach, and fundraising initiatives to continue the school’s long-standing tradition of civic engagement.

The Middle School girls select and partner with a local nonprofit organization to share their time, treasure, and talents; monthly dress down day funds are allocated to this organization. In addition, special projects such as the Upper School Carnival or school-wide Legacy Days encourage Middle School girls to partner with community organizations.

Weekly, advisor groups are assigned service weeks to maintain safe and clean common areas. Girls learn the importance of doing their part to contribute to the common good of the whole community.

GROW

GROW (Girls Reaching Others Worldwide) is a Middle and Upper School student-run foundation dedicated to:

fundraising
funding and participating in service projects
and awarding grants to nonprofit organizations and institutions that focus on the needs of children, particularly girls, educational access, hunger, and homelessness

GROW inspires HB girls to develop an early interest in philanthropy. Members of the GROW foundation meet regularly to review grant proposals, plan fundraisers, and increase awareness about the foundation's mission.