Middle School Years
Saint Paul Public Schools is committed to providing a successful middle school model that supports students during a key transition time in their lives. We believe that our young adolescents deserve a middle school experience that is developmentally responsive, challenging, empowering and equitable.
Middle School Model
We believe that our young adolescents deserve a middle school experience that is developmentally responsive, challenging, empowering and equitable.
In the middle school model, teachers in core subject areas collaborate as a team to meet the social-emotional and academic needs of a common group of students and includes:
- Grades 6-8
- Student-centered teaching
- Seven periods or a block schedule of 4 classes daily that include electives and a Foundations Advisory class
- Teachers, counselors, social workers, and support staff work together to provide students with lessons that help them navigate peer conflict, friendships, bullying, stress and anxiety.
- Academics include challenging core and elective courses and college and career readiness programming.
- Every student is supported for who they are and who they hope to become by honoring and celebrating their culture, race/ethnicity and gender.
- Middle schools will strengthen English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum that expands Writer’s Workshop to 6th grade.
- Middle school schedules will be adjusted to a seven-period day to allow time for flexible scheduling, electives and a whole class period for the Foundations Advisory class.
Foundations Advisory
Foundations is an advisory class that helps students ease into the transition from elementary to middle school.
- The class will help students build a community of connectedness among their classmates and their teacher.
- The class is designed to help students feel connected to and advocated for by a team of teachers and staff.
- Students will be part of a caring environment with a focus on academic achievement, digital citizenship, social-emotional learning and college and career topics.
- Every student participates in the full period class (held every other day).
- The class is graded as Pass/No Pass.
- Every 8th grade student receives instruction on financial literacy topics. A capstone experience is attending Junior Achievement's Finance Park where students assume a persona, a job and a budget to work with.
Financial Literacy in Middle School Foundations
Resources
Learn more about the middle school model as designed by the Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE).
Saint Paul Public Schools is using the Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE) to guide its middle school model. The following resources help explain more about how middle schools function to help students achieve.
Young Adolescent Development
Developmental Characteristics of Young Adults
Middle School Curriculum
Sixth Grade
Middle School Programs
AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a proven, in-school elective college readiness class that prepares students in grades 6-12 for college and career readiness.
Creating learning environments where all students make connections to what they are learning and teachers meet the learning needs of students, contributing to successful academic outcomes.
Digital Learning is an instructional strategy that tailors teaching and learning to Saint Paul Public School’s diverse student body.
Our dual language immersion programs provide literacy and content instruction through two languages and a multicultural perspective.
(SPPS) offers content based English language instructional programs and services to meet the varied needs of English learners.
Genius Squad members participate in, lead, and assist with technology integration in a wide variety of ways at their respective schools.
Indigenous Integration provides lessons and resources across content areas to meet Minnesota State Standards that specifically mention Anishinabe and Dakota people.
All 5th, 8th and 9th grade students participate in individual advising meetings with their school counselor. Topics vary and can include growth in self-awareness, academic progress, career planning, and post-secondary planning.
Library Services empowers students and staff to become enthusiastic readers, critical thinkers, skillful researchers, and ethical users of information.
All SPPS students create a Personal Learning Plan (PLP). The PLP gives students opportunities to identify their strengths, skills and interests and connect them to careers that may interest them.
We provide special education and related services according to the federal mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the State of Minnesota's rules and statutes.
Talent Development and Acceleration Services (TDAS) celebrates the abilities, interests and needs of students through challenging and varied curriculum.