Middle School

6th - 8th Grades


"The Middle School years are the most formative, challenging, and exciting years every student encounters.  We strive to make sure every student is known, encouraged, and given their own spotlight to shine.  Some of the Lord’s best handiwork takes place during these developmental years where each student’s identity in Christ is molded, relationships are deepened, and opportunities to explore new interests are provided.  We are confident your Middle Schooler will find a home and be a part of something special here at MRA."

- Ben Haindel, Middle School Principal


A caring, invested faculty dedicates their days to challenging students to become critical thinkers, readers, and writers. We hope to send our Middle School students into High School as budding scientists, historians, and wordsmiths who are ready to accept bigger challenges.

While Middle School should be taken seriously, we hope to not take ourselves too seriously. These years should be opportunities to try new sports and activities while making friendships across grades that last beyond MRA.

It is our hope that as our 8th graders pass into the High School realm, they will have some insight as to what young adulthood holds for them and what interests they wish to pursue in those years.

 

Curriculum

Our Middle School curriculum is the beginning of a myriad of academic choices for our students. We pride ourselves on offering more than cookie cutter academic plans for an entire grade. At MRA, we offer honors courses beginning in the 6th grade (honors math and honors English), and students are given the option of taking individual honors courses. Some students are more math-oriented, while others gravitate toward English. In math, we offer the opportunity for our students to move up 2 levels, should test scores and teacher recommendations from 5th grade suggest future success. Our students will take the four core classes, and there is a rotation period, as well. During this rotation period, students spend each nine week grading period in different subjects. Those subjects are Spanish, Art, Computer, and Bible. In 6th grade, STEM is our science course. This is an interactive, student-centered approach to covering life science.

As 7th graders, our students are offered the opportunity to combine 7th (earth) and 8th grade (physical) science into Honors STEM 7. Those students will move into biology as 8th graders, while our STEM 7 students will study earth science for the year and move into physical science as 8th graders. Honors Math and English are offered again, as is the rotation period. 7th grade rotation consists of French, Study Skills, Computer, and Bible.

Our 8th grade year continues with the opportunity to be in 3 honors classes, and instead of a rotation period, most of our 8th graders take computer for a semester and Bible for a semester. Many of our students who are not in an athletic period opt for a visual or performing art during this year. We offer many choices in the visual and performing arts, including drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, drama, and choir.

Extra-Curricular Activites

Athletics are offered throughout the Middle School experience. 6th grade football, basketball, and cheer are parent-coached events, and some of our junior varsity and varsity sports are offered to our 6th graders. These sports include cross country, volleyball, fast-pitch softball, archery, track, tennis, and golf.

MathCounts is a class offered to those who score within a certain mathematics range on a standardized test. The MathCounts class deals with problem solving and other math problems. Competitions throughout the year will be held off campus.

Many clubs are offered throughout the school year. These clubs meet during activity periods through the course of the school year, and some of these clubs include Hunting and Fishing, Memory Club, Image Club, and Board Brains. Youth Legislature is one of these clubs that meets during the school year, and the club does participate in a mock legislative process at the state capitol on a Friday and Saturday in April.

At the end of our 8th grade year, we encourage each of our students to take part in a class trip to Washington, D.C. This trip provides a “capstone” to the Middle School experience, and it also affords our students opportunities to get to know some of their classmates in a different light, as well.

The Middle School experience at MRA is one that we hope everyone finds to be first rate. We will always strive to have great teachers, and we will always expect those teachers to strive for great results. Sometimes great results means helping a child find his or her niche, and other times great results means helping a child learn the classroom material. We ask all of our teachers to be great everyday, and in turn, we hope for greatness from each child every day. As we continue to educate the mind, body, and spirit every day, we do so with a Middle School mentality of helping each child each day.

Ben Haindel
Middle School Principal

Middle School Hours

School Hours
8:15 - 3:30