The Atid Middle School program is dedicated to being the most innovative and forward thinking curriculum, rooted in a pedagogy that allows all students to thrive. With a deep commitment to individualized and personalized learning, students are overtly taught the 21st century skills that will prepare them to be independent and successful individuals throughout life. Our constructivist approach helps students discover understanding through both academic material and project based learning.
Individualization
Each student is continually assessed and only given work at their level. A student is given the opportunity to move through the curriculum at their own pace, mastering material at the right time for them. This allows students to cover more ground when they show proficiency or take more time to master a topic. Teachers stay committed to making sure each child is being challenged and building up the internal skills that allow them to be successful. We create multi-age classrooms that allow students to create their own learning community that is based on their abilities and approaches.
21st Century Skills
More than any one subject, the soft skills are the most important collection of abilities that allow students to grow in any situation. Skills such as persistence, collaboration, academic risk taking, and self reflection are overtly taught in our advisory class. Students are continually asked to refer to these habits of mind as they work through different assignments. Our different subjects and assignments are vehicles for our students to build these important skills to become independent thinkers and doers.
Project Based Learning
Centered around our Design & Build curriculum, our students use the engineering design process to define real world problems and construct prototype and real product solutions. Students can learn how to use a host of power tools, 3D printers, laser cutters, and other mediums to tackle an engineering challenge. Students also participate in “Be the Change” assignments, where they identify areas of the school environment that can be improved, propose solutions, and then construct and implement them.
Integrated Passion Projects
Each student selects a project and area of study to investigate for an entire year. Students dedicate each Friday to assignments in every subject area designed to help them learn more about their selected topic from multiple vantage points. Students conduct research, interview experts in the field, build working objects, create experiments, and study with local rabbis about ethical dilemmas related to their topic.
Thematically Integrated Curriculum
Each year, the curriculum examines themes designed by the teaching team that focuses on essential questions and enduring understandings. This allows our students to dive deeper into these concepts as they explore them in different ways in each of their class subjects when applicable. Recent Themes have included topics such as Voice and Character.