Middle School

The Middle School years form the critical transition period from students competent in the basics of reading, writing and mathematics to students launched into more serious academic study. For Middle School students, our concentration is on maintaining and raising the standards of those basic tools learned earlier, becoming focused and independent as students and getting an increased conceptual understanding of how academic subjects integrate and relate to real life. Additionally, specific courses and projects are designed to raise the students' willingness and ability to draw conclusions and make judgments about the information they're learning.

Students generally enter Middle School around the age of eleven and a half and graduate to Upper School by fourteen years of age.

Forms versus Grade Levels

Rather than place or advance a child based on age or number of months spent at one level, Delphi takes the approach that each level of one's education involves the acquisition and demonstration of particular abilities and knowledge. Spending exactly a year at one level may be fine for some children but not for others. Some students thrive at a faster pace, and some need more time. In fact, most students experience a little bit of both from month to month, depending on the subject matter, their age, or any number of variables.

Delphi utilizes the concept of Forms as a way of getting excellent learning results without forcing all students to move at exactly the same pace. We realize each student is an individual, and needs to be addressed as such in his or her education.  A student completes a Form upon accomplishing the requirements for graduation from that form. Though Forms can be roughly equivalent to grade levels and ages, it is possible for a younger student to move on to a higher Form once all the requirements for the earlier Forms have been met. In this way, each student can get the full benefits from the curriculum and keep advancing as rapidly as he or she is maturing.