Preparing for Success, Inside & Outside the Classroom
Kent School’s Middle School program for Grades 5 through 8 combines academic rigor with personal growth, helping students become confident, responsible, and independent learners ready for their next steps.
Welcome to Middle School
Kent School, an independent school located in Chestertown, Maryland on Maryland’s Eastern Shore serves children in Preschool, Elementary School and Middle School. The Middle School is comprised of Grades 5 through 8. The Middle School program is designed to promote academic and personal growth in our students. We expect them to be responsible learners and help them develop an awareness of self and others. With appropriate challenges and the support of a caring faculty, our students develop a genuine sense of self esteem. Critical thinking, research, and organizational skills are taught across disciplines; an integrated language arts and history program is offered in fifth and sixth grades; and small group teaching, collaborative and cooperative learning, and peer review are stressed. Our students graduate from Grade 8 prepared for the opportunities and challenges associated with a variety of secondary school selections including rigorous boarding schools, private day schools and area public schools.
Collaborative Learning
Small group teaching, collaborative and cooperative learning, and peer review are stressed starting in Grade 5.
Personal Growth
The Middle School program is designed to promote academic and personal growth in our students. We expect them to be responsible learners and help them develop an awareness of self and others.
Explorations
Middle School Explorations is an opportunity for middle school students to explore electives that are an extension of the regular curriculum, to pursue an interest or talent, or discover a new one.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking, research, and organizational skills are taught across discipline. With appropriate challenges and the support of a caring faculty, our students develop a genuine sense of self-esteem.
Integrated Technology
Technology is incorporated in classes across Middle School curriculum, teaching students how to use various technology to continue development of the skills needed to succeed.
Middle School Curriculum
Humanities
Fifth Grade: Fifth Grade Humanities students will engage in reading and writing through the lens of history to better understand the human experience, leading them to be honorable, responsible citizens. One of the many goals of the humanities curriculum is to create independent thinkers who have a true love of reading and writing. In fifth grade, an emphasis is placed on creating strong written responses to reading. Students will use citations to support their answers to text based questions. Students will have opportunities to write narratives, expository essays and persuasive essays.
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Evaluate content from multiple sources and use reading and writing to develop and defend arguments.
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Read and understand literary nonfiction, plays, and literature, demonstrating increasing sophistication in writing.
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Describe historical events from the perspectives of those living at the time and understand that history is interpreted.
READING LIST
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A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
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A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadhata
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The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
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The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Eighth Grade: Humanities is a comprehensive exploration of human culture that includes fields such as history, literature, and philosophy. Throughout this course, students will immerse themselves in reading and writing a variety of novels to gain deeper insights into the human experience, with the objective of nurturing ethical and accountable citizens. A central aim of the humanities curriculum is to foster independent thinkers who cultivate a genuine passion for reading and writing.
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Critical Thinking
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Empathy
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Informative Gathering
- Understanding Oneself
Global knowledge
Interpreting Relationships
- Animal Farm
- I am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World
- Twelve Angry Men
- The Diary of Anne Frank
- Great Expectations
Mathematics
We value teacher-student engagement. Classroom instruction is dynamic and interactive, incorporating partner and small group work, hands-on activities, and explorations to foster collaboration and deeper understanding.
We utilize the i-Ready Classroom Mathematics program for Kindergarten through Eighth Grade, a comprehensive, research-based curriculum designed to engage students and accelerate their growth in mathematics. This program emphasizes the development of conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and problem-solving skills across key mathematical domains, including arithmetic, data analysis, probability, geometry, algebra, and operations.
By leveraging adaptive learning technology, i-Ready provides personalized instruction tailored to meet the unique needs of each student, ensuring that prior knowledge is seamlessly connected to new concepts through ongoing, spaced review.
Fact fluency is developed through a combination of daily oral practice, conceptual activities, and interactive games. Students are encouraged to explore and apply a variety of strategies for problem-solving, promoting flexibility and critical thinking. The program also offers diverse assessment opportunities, enabling teachers to monitor progress and provide targeted support as needed. We aim to empower students with the skills and confidence they need to succeed in mathematics and beyond.
Science
By Grade Level:
Fifth Grade: Students use experimentation and hands-on demonstration to:
- Exploring Earth
- Motion and Forces
- Life Structure and Function
Sixth Grade: Sixth Grade students use project-based learning to gain understanding of:
- Weather and Climate
- Energy and Matter
- From Bacteria to Plants
Seventh Grade: Seventh Grade students explore the following topics across Earth, Life and Physical Science:
- Geologic Changes
- Atoms and Elements
- Interactions of Life
Eighth Grade: Eighth Grade students acquire understanding of:
- Exploring the Universe
- Waves, Electricity, and Magnetism
- Human Body Systems
Spanish
Whether composing songs to remember conjugation charts or producing music videos and television shows, students at Kent School see, hear, move and think in Spanish. The middle school experience encompasses cultural elements and a solid foundation of the language. Many of our students place out of Spanish I when they enter secondary school. Active learning contributes to our success.
By Grade Level:
Fifth Grade: “Travels” the world, visiting the many Spanish-speaking countries. Through research, presentations, games and creative projects, the class acquires new information about the language and the culture.
Combining cultural elements and basic language skills, the class develops a better understanding of the diverse lifestyles and varying customs of the Hispanic countries.
Sixth Grade: Begins the structured curriculum of a first-year high school course. The total immersion approach challenges the students to think and communicate in the target language. Students learn to conjugate verbs, utilize vocabulary learned in past years, and construct entire conversations and responses.
Seventh Grade: Continues to build on the foundation set in the previous year. Learning more complex concepts, mastering the present tense, and improving oral competency are the major goals for the year. Interactive projects and oral discussions allow the students ample opportunity to practice the target language on a daily basis.
Eighth Grade: By the end of the Eighth Grade, the class has completed the curriculum requirements of a Spanish I course. The students master the preterit tense and examine the many nuances in the language. In addition to formal assessments, the class proves their mastery of the material by creating music videos, newscasts and other media projects
Explorations
Beyond the Classroom
Middle School Explorations is an opportunity for middle school students to explore electives that are an extension of the regular curriculum, to pursue an interest or talent, or discover a new one. Small, cross-grade groups provide a setting for students to interact with students in other grades. There are two six-week Exploration Blocks throughout the year. Explorations meets for one class period each week. Offerings have included: Kent School Video News Program, News from the Middle, Edible Art, Alternative Dance, Math Warriors, Up, Up and Away (Rocketry), Slam Poetry, Exploring the World of Drums, Make it Homemade cooking, Hand Modeling Animals with Clay, Monologues for the Masses, Pumpkin Chunkin’ (trebuchet), Origami, Neuroscience, Forensics, Calligraphy, Nature Buddies, Quilting, Fun with Physics, Ghost Hunters, Robotics and Chem-is-try.
Leadership Lab
Seventh-grade students are on the path to becoming school leaders as they enter eighth grade.
Leadership Lab is designed to prepare them for various leadership roles by incorporating team-building exercises, problem-solving challenges, and community service opportunities, such as partnering with Little School to visit Heron Point, Leadership Lab integrates Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) strategies with Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) to equip our students with the skills and confidence to lead effectively at Kent School and beyond.
Art
In fifth grade art, students concentrate on the Impressionistic Period, copying techniques using acrylic, pastel, and clay. In the spring, the curriculum is based around Colonial art.
Sixth grade art students study the principles and elements of design, create Op art, learn the proper proportions of the human form through life drawing, and concentrate on print making.
In seventh grade, students concentrate on painting techniques that focus on color theory and value. The students then create the backdrop for the spring musical.
Eighth grade students focus on 20th Century Artist, graphics, and clay. They end the year painting their legacy block.
Music
In the fall, fifth grade students learn the fundamentals of guitar playing. In the spring, they learn colonial songs and dances, and continue their musical studies in connection with their colonial history curriculum.
In sixth grade, students study music theory and analysis, then in the spring they sing 19th century songs, dance and play instruments to connect music studies with their Civil War curriculum.
Seventh graders spend a block immersed in music appreciation, then in the spring they study world music by singing, dancing and playing instruments, connecting to their geography studies.
Eighth grade students enhance their 20th century history work by studying American roots music. Then in the spring, they learn the music for the annual 8th grade Spring Musical.
Physical Education
Coming Soon!
Chesapeake Bay Studies
Middle School students continue their Chesapeake Bay Studies learning with area field trips including supervised team building exercises, sailing, fishing and crabbing experiences with Echo Hill Outdoor School. Eighth Grade students take a culminating three-day hiking trip that brings them to the highest elevation in West Virginia, where on a clear day they can get a panoramic view of the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed, the area they have been exploring at Kent School since their earliest years.
Bay Studies topics are regularly integrated into Middle School Lab Science, Mathematics and History. This interdisciplinary approach, incorporating our environment in our teaching, is a unique Kent School attribute that enhances our students’ sense of curiosity about and responsibility for our natural world.
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Kent School News
Generous Gifts for Middle School Expansion Push Together We Soar Campaign Total to Nearly $2 Million
Together We Soar, Kent School’s $2.3 million campaign to expand its Middle School and grow its endowment, received a major boost last week. First, the school received a $250,000 commitment to name the new Innovation Center, which will be built on a 1,600 square foot concrete foundation that was poured in 2012 as a placeholder for future expansion of the Middle School.
Middle School Moments Matter
It’s particularly important to focus on the moments in Middle School as it’s a time when students grow and change rapidly while navigating the awkwardness of puberty. And, while it may seem like a blur, the truth is, Middle School moments matter in ways that often aren’t fully understood until later in life. The friendships formed, the challenges faced, and the lessons learned during these years have a profound impact on who students become as individuals.
Is it worth it?
Is an independent school education worth it? At Kent School, the answer is a resounding yes. From teaching cursive to preserve historical literacy to assigning full-length novels that foster critical thinking and deep engagement, Kent School ensures students are prepared for future academic success and beyond. Discover how our rigorous and joyful learning environment inspires students to meet high expectations and become true scholars.
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