The Middle School Community
Rock Prairie Montessori Middle School and Outdoor Learning Lab offers adolescents an enriched educational experience, combining rigorous academic inquiry with authentic experiences in real world problem-solving, service learning and entrepreneurial activities. This integrated curriculum requires students to be responsible and respectful members of their community in order to both collaborate and pursue individualized self-directed work. When our students engage in our outdoor learning lab they practice stewardship of both our farm enterprises and the land itself. Throughout the year, we challenge our students to stretch themselves through off-campus experiences and trips that connect their academic learning to the world beyond our school community. To ensure a Montessori Middle School is the best fit for your student we have a purposeful set of admissions steps that will help guide this decision.
Our Montessori Adolescent community is designed to help adolescents answer the question, “Where do I fit in?” Along with Maria Montessori, we propose that the work of the adolescent is to find their purpose and place in society.
With this in mind and in alignment with Rock Prairie Montessori School ’s Mission and Vision our Middle School has these objectives:
To foster each adolescent’s emerging abstract thinking skills and encourage intellectual risk-taking through rigorous, flexible, and inquiry-based learning within an integrated curriculum.
To inspire intellectual curiosity while giving opportunity and instruction that develop 21st Century core competencies such as collaboration, creativity, innovation, communication, resiliency, reflection, digital fluency, and critical thinking.
To prepare adolescents for the daily activities of adult life through authentic experiences in real-world problem solving and entrepreneurial activities.
To connect adolescents to diverse cultural and ecological environments through experiential learning within a global ‘classroom’.
To provide opportunities to develop confidence and mastery through meaningful work and exploration in a thoughtful and empowering environment.
To assist adolescents in developing healthy relationships with themselves and one another.
To support moral and ethical development by linking adolescents’ budding desire for fairness and individual freedom to a broader understanding of social justice and individual responsibility.
To guide adolescents in becoming self-directed, life-long learners with an attitude of service and stewardship to the local and global community.
Growing Roots
Growing Roots is Rock Prairie Middle School's student-run business. Students create soap, lip balm, paw balm and beard balm, all hand-made! They also tend chickens and sell the fresh eggs to our school community.
Goods are sold throughout the school year. More information about Growing Roots can be found by clicking here.
Behind the scenes at Growing Roots:
LINKS
A Typical Day in the Adolescent Community:
Classroom/ Outdoor Learning Lab chores (30 min)
Community Gathering (20-30 min)
Morning Work cycle
Lunch/Break (45 min)
Afternoon Work Cycle
Classroom/Outdoor Learning Lab chores (30 min)
Reflect and Connect (20-30 min)
First Egg Sale!
Curriculum
A lesson in beekeeping
An academic year divided into five units of inquiry. Each unit of inquiry is developed around a unifying theme which the students engage with through the central concepts and essential questions posed to them in each of the following subject areas: Social Studies, English Language Arts, Spanish Language Arts, Math, Science.
Dr. Montessori felt that schools should educate the whole child and that particularly during adolescence the acquisition of academic skills should occur alongside the development of the skills necessary for success in all aspects of adult life. Montessori called these “practical life skills” and divided them into four areas. Here at Rock Prairie, we have developed a Middle School practical life curriculum for each area: Personal Development (Brainology, Human Growth and Development, Personal Finance, Mindfulness, Nutrition, and Physical Education), Stewardship, Community Service, and Daily Life (skills may include sewing, knitting, woodworking, cooking, creative writing, photography, painting, collage, drawing, ukulele, car maintenance, etc.)
Intersession Enrichment
Each of our units of inquiry will conclude with a one-week intersession.
These are an opportunity for students to gain real-world experience that aids in the development of autonomy, responsibility, and practical life skills while offering the opportunity to apply what they have learned through meaningful work. To help them answer the questions, “Why does this matter? and “How can I make a difference?”
Intersession activities include:
On Campus Intersessions:
The presentation of summative work from their inquiries to experts from the discipline studied.
Entrepreneurial enterprise development
Performances and/or Presentation of curated work.
Off Campus Intersessions:
Yearly: Wilderness/Leadership adventure
Year A:
Service/volunteer immersion.
Government/Cultural trip
Year B:
Internship with a business or profession
Ecology/Local History trip
As we begin our middle school program, we will add some of our own videos. To get an idea of what happens in a middle school program, please check out the following videos:
https://amshq.org/About-Montessori/Inside-the-Montessori-Classroom/Secondary#
