Focus
We help students discover how to organize for learning (using schedules, planners and binders), and to start actively creating positive relationships. Many of our middle school students arrive at Plumfield having withdrawn from anything that looks like an opportunity to fail. Many have not been able to be successful in the classroom or in social groups. They simply withdraw from new experiences.
We gently open our students to the idea of trying new things. We let them participate at various levels until they feel ready to engage. At a social level, relationships with teachers and peers take center stage. We introduce our students to tools that avoid social pitfalls at a time when social interactions can be tricky.
Our goal is to have our middle schoolers exit their days at Plumfield feeling that school is a cooperative, collaborative and positive experience. We also want to prepare them to enter high school with a solid collection of tools and skills to manage their workload, feed their curiosity, and get along with others.
To understand who we serve, please see FAQ.
We pave the path to be open to new experiences.
Daily Life
Academics & Therapeutic Support: Students spend their time in a small classroom setting with individualized academic instruction based on each student’s IEP. Our curriculum is integrated, and our classrooms are designed to reduce noise while keeping visual distractions limited.
The daily routine includes classroom activities, movement breaks, as well as communal lessons, one-on-one instruction, paired activities, and small group instruction.
We make sure our academic and behavioral expectations are clear and consistent, and we give hourly rewards for academic and behavioral effort. Transitions can be hard for some students, so we have time built into the campus-wide routines to make these experiences smoother and easier.
Each student’s selection of academic materials is individual to him, and we offer therapeutic support—that includes individual counseling, group counseling, family support and case management, psychiatric support and speech and language therapy as needed. To understand more about the types of therapeutic support we offer, see Therapeutic Support.
Middle school is a bridge, a transition.
Activities
Our middle schoolers get introduced to music and musical instruments, designing and tending the school garden, journalism, jobs on campus, and video production in our media lab. We also have recreation time for outdoor play.
We start by igniting individual curiosity and then slowly build upon that experience.
For example, our music instructor starts working one-on-one with students to help them explore instruments that they’re interested in learning. Once students are practicing and feeling some sense of competence, he might pair them to practice together or learn together—with the goal of performing a song together.
From the selection of the song to the ways the instruments blend, everything evolves from the students’ individual ideas and interests. This slowly builds the skills of solving problems together and completing projects together—in a natural way that feels real and relevant.
These same principles apply in our media lab, in the garden, on the playing field, or in our maker spaces. We create those initial positive experiences of learning something new and making something with someone.
Our goal is to expose students to new interests, so they enter high school having had real success at learning new things and being with others.
Values
For our middle school boys, understanding relationships and knowing how to work with others is key. So is having the ability to ask for help.
Through our 5 PILLARS program, we specifically teach relationship-building tools to increase each student’s ability to predict how his behavior might be interpreted by others. And we help him apply these tools when reviewing real-life situations.
Asking for help is also a central learning skill that relies on relationships. It is a skill that has specific steps that we teach, and it relies on a capacity for trusting others—that must be developed and nurtured.
These relationship-oriented values set the foundation for a lifetime of learning and relating in positive ways with other people.
Each day, we work on the building blocks: being genuine, showing interest, validating, and putting in real effort.
Key Elements for Middle School
- Small Classrooms
- Serene, Natural Setting
- Individualized Instruction
- Activities to Expand Exposure to New Things
- Activities to Awaken New Interests
- Therapeutic Support
- Attentive Staff
- The Strength of Social Fabric (5 PILLARS)
It's possible.