Welcome to the Middle School at Shorecrest!

The Middle School years are an opportunity for remarkable growth. During this stage of development, students are naturally academically curious, while at the same time a tremendous amount of social and emotional learning occurs. This combination gives us an opportunity to challenge our students with a vigorous yet progressive curriculum. Our Middle School intentionally spans grades five through eight. That structure affords the students a four year period in which to develop organization, independence and autonomy.

We engage your children by providing choices. Throughout Middle School, students have the opportunity to choose various projects like Science Fair, National History Day, Drop Everything and STEAM Week, and many other cross-curricular, grade level projects. Each grade level has a rigorous curriculum that incorporates Project Based Learning. This provides students an opportunity to explore in-depth the concepts they learn in class daily. We create a balance in all we do including arts, academics and athletics. We offer art and technology together in our Innovation and Design Studio, in addition to our music, drama and debate classes. We have a strong physical education program that will help develop skills that are important in our Middle School years and beyond and prepare students for Varsity athletics if they choose. As for clubs, we offer Model UN, Jr. Thespians, Forensics, LEGO Robotics and more.

At Shorecrest, we support students with an advisory program called Circle of Power and Respect (CPR). Each morning the students start their day with an advisory group which supports their social and emotional development. Our seventh and eighth grade students are developing a Peer Mediation Program which helps students become empathetic problem solvers.

We continue our CPR experience by focusing on grade level field experiences. The eighth grade travels to Washington, D.C. for an amazing four-day trip to our nation’s Capital. This gives students a more hands-on experience of American History and current events. The seventh grade spends three days in St. Augustine, Florida, studying early American History and its ties to our state. Sixth graders problem solve on their trip to Busch Gardens. Fifth students take a one-night trip to NASA for a science program and sleep under a space shuttle.

Any well-rounded curriculum is lacking without Service Learning. In the Middle School at Shorecrest, our students engage in authentic service learning that is tied directly to the curriculum. Each grade has at least one major cross-curricular project that results in a component of service.

• Fifth grade students explore how water scarcity impacts access to educational opportunities and quality of life in various areas of the world while reading "A Long Walk to Water," set in Africa. Along with many cross-curricular activities connected to events in the book, fifth graders participate in a "Long Walk with Water" around Shorecrest's campus to raise awareness of the issues they have learned about.
• Sixth grade has a cross-curricular project built around Hispanic, African, Indian and Chinese folktales and fairytales. Students work in small groups to ideate a simple story including a moral, a problem and a solution. Their scripts include some of the common themes found in the culture that the group researched. A local puppeteer worked with students to build rod puppets from recycled materials to represent the characters in their stories. The sixth graders presented their shows to residents at the VA Community Rehabilitation Center.
• Seventh grade delves into solving a health-related problem in the community, creating curriculum in every discipline that leads to a Community Health Improvement Plan Project or "CHIP Project" for short. Students develop a project that will identify a specific health concern, determine the needs of the individual or group, and then create a way to solve at least one health-related need of that individual or group. Students share their projects with the communities that are most impacted.
• Shorecrest has developed a signature program in eighth grade through the Entrepreneurial Design Institute, where students are exposed to design thinking, idea generation, ideation and action, creating economic and social value in the local and global community.

Our Middle School is a place where we engage, support, challenge and problem solve daily. Come visit us and see for yourself!