Adolescence and the middle school years are challenging, but essential to the development of academic and life skills to prepare students for Upper School, college, and the working world. Recently, a lot of folks in the education world have been discussing, sharing, liking, and retweeting an article first published in The Washington Post. The article, written by Phyllis Fagell, author of Middle School Matters, highlights seven ways parents and educators can assist the child's experience in middle school. 

The seven include: trust them with responsibility; help them with self-identity, give them ways to serve, foster relationships with adults, help them relate to peers, build in opportunities for play and make it safe to fail.

These are items we work to build each day with our middlers in classrooms and in all of our learning spaces. If you are working on building any of these elements at home with your child(ren), please let us know how we can provide any guidance or assistance. As always, thanks for your ongoing partnership and support of the Middle School.