Academics: Upper School 6-9

2009-2010 Curriculum

Welcome to the Upper School! The daily life of a Bement student is filled with rich, active and varied learning experiences. Each morning begins with an upper school community meeting. This meeting provides time for students to hear important announcements, give reports on the previous days’ sports contests, and to discuss any issues that impact our upper school community. Our morning meeting is followed by an advisory period, two academic classes, a 20-minute recess, and then two more academic classes. Lunch is followed by an additional community meeting and the final class of the school day. Students generally have one study hall each day during which time all teachers are available for extra help.

Every Friday Upper School students eat lunch and participate in individual or group activities with their advisors. Homework is assigned on a daily basis. Daily course study ranges from a rat dissection, designing a Rube Goldberg invention (Science 9), construction of solar cars (Science 6), an in-depth view of the Civil War ( History 8 ), rehearsing a play ( Drama 6-9 ) discussing and dramatizing portions of  the Odyssey ( English 9 ), performing chemical laboratory experiments ( Science 8 ) to learning how to graph equations (Algebra I ). Chances are you will have classmates from around the globe sitting next you. While these adventures occur throughout the day you will notice that all those involved with every class, activity, and sport embrace the values…acceptance, honesty, integrity, kindness, respect, and responsibility…which help us to maintain our strong sense of community. It takes a major effort to do this daily, but the rewards are many. Students and teachers working together help to make the daily journey much easier and more enriching!

The academic year is organized on a trimester system. A Mini-Term with a special schedule of courses, electives and speakers organized around a theme is offered every winter term between Thanksgiving and winter break. Students in grade 6 have their academic courses centered around the homeroom concept; in grades 7-9, students travel to different classrooms for their instruction from teachers who specialize in subject areas.