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Academics

Student Life

In addition to the Middle School curriculum and co-curriculars, our students participate in a variety of extracurricular experiences that help them thrive in and out of the classroom.

 

Our students travel to math and "Battle of the Books" competitions, organize service activities to raise money, and compete as Spartans or Athenians during Field Day. There are dances, the famous end-of-year Owl-a-Palooza, outdoor picnics, surprise group birthday parties, division-wide games, and a dedicated Director of Student Life to help make the most of the Middle Schoolers' days.

 

Our Middle Schoolers are also paired with a Lower School class for Class Days, special days throughout the year in which students are with their classmates or paired with a buddy of another division to work on a project or attend an event together. Class Days help build lasting bonds and community spirit throughout the entire school.

What are some elements of day-to-day
Middle School life?

  • 1:1 Chromebooks

    • Students are issued a Chromebook beginning in 6th grade (at no additional cost to parents)

    • Classes incorporate technology usage into their respective curriculum

    • Students encouraged to take digital notes

    • Google Classroom allows students to submit work digitally

 

  • Advisory Program

    • Divided by grade level and gender

    • Assigned a faculty member to be their Advisor for the duration of Middle School

    • Meet several times throughout the week:

      • Review the Wakefield Courtesies

      • Advisor and advisee discuss grades, one on one

      • Discuss weekly schedule and future events

      • Learn positive team-building and leadership skills amongst one another

 

  • Athletics

    • Each trimester, students are required to play a sport as a fulfillment of their PE class

    • Practices are worked into the normal school schedule

    • Games held during and/or after school

    • Fall sports: Girls' Volleyball, Girls' Tennis, Boys' Soccer, Equestrian, Conditioning

    • Winter sports: Girls' Basketball, Boys' Basketball, Equestrian, Squash, Swimming

    • Spring sports: Girls' Soccer, Boys' Lacrosse, Boys' Tennis, Equestrian, Golf 

    • Many faculty members also serve as coaches

 

  • Clubs

    • Clubs meet weekly as part of the normal school schedule

    • Clubs may include Battle of the Books, Geography Bee, Logical Fallacies, Journalism/Yearbook, Robotics, Junior Achievement

Spotlight on a Middle school rider's story

Lexi Andrzejewski has competed on Wakefield’s Middle School Equestrian Team for three years--but until joining the Wakefield Equestrian Sports Program (WESP) in 6th grade as part of her Middle School athletics requirement, she had actually never ridden at all.

“My grandmother was a rider and she had always wanted me to try riding, but I never had been interested,” she says. “But the Middle School sports program wants you to try new things, and so I thought, ‘OK, I’ll give it a try!’ And I liked it!” 
 
Lexi says her WESP coach is very welcoming and gets to know each rider as an individual in order to teach her. “It is definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach,” she says.
 
New riders are helped by veteran teammates, too. Both WESP lessons and IEA competitions are structured so that more advanced riders go first, and they are then available to help with bringing along the less-experienced riders that follow them, “which really helps,” she says. 
 
Riding is now part of Lexi’s life outside of school, too--and she now keeps her pony at the very farm in Nokesville where her grandmother rode as a girl!