This year, 6th Graders have a new set of academic rotations, designed to support their transition into middle school.
Through four rotating courses in Computing, Health and Wellness, Project Arts, and the Student-to-Student Advanced Peer Leadership Program (STS), students can explore the full breadth of ECFS’s curriculum, build strong peer relationships, and begin to develop their academic and artistic interests.
In a recent Project Arts class, co-teachers Ava Heller and Victorius Remak invited students to choreograph short pieces, first on their own, and then in small groups. In Heller’s class, students giggled as they shared their eight-count pieces, each highlighting a different style of movement. Despite the lighthearted mood, students paid close attention to their peers’ dances, sharing their observations, offered next steps, and celebrated the bravery it took to perform in front of their peers. Next door, Remak coached students through the process of learning a breakdancing move, guiding them through the challenge of learning a new style of dance. “Never say you can’t do it,” he gently corrected a student after a particularly hard combination. “Only say you can’t do it yet.”
Dance is only one of the many performing arts 6th Graders explore during their interdisciplinary rotation. “Project Arts exposes students to multiple aspects of theater and performance, including playwriting, dance choreography, scene creation, and acting,” explains Fieldston Middle Principal Jon Alschuler.
As students explore different disciplines, Heller, Remak, and Theatre Teachers Clare Mottola and Stephanie Stone are also assessing their interests and strengths as performers. “Project Arts informs the courses that will be offered to students as 8th Graders,” continues Alschuler, “For example, if we notice a class with a high concentration of strong writers, we offer them a screenwriting elective.” This inquiry-driven curriculum centers student interest, while also challenging students to develop expertise in specialized areas, a hallmark of ECFS’s progressive education model.
Project Arts isn’t the only 6th Grade rotation designed to help students explore their academic interests. The new Computing class provides students with a foundation that supports their everyday learning and, if they choose, potential future computer science pursuits.
“Computing both explicitly teaches students essential skills and gives students a sense of potential STEM pathways they may follow through Fieldston Middle and Fieldston Upper,” Alschuler says. Over the course of the new rotation, students learn the history of computing before moving on to practical STEM skills like web development, cybersecurity, and the foundations of ethical digital communication.
Alschuler is excited about the electives the Fieldston Middle team can offer to students whose interests are piqued by the topics they initially explore in Computing. “Looking ahead, we are hoping to develop parallel tracks to our current Engineering electives,” he explains, adding that because of the new course, “We have greater possibilities to provide different entry points to the maker spaces and engineering.” In addition to the current Engineering class, which teaches students hands-on design thinking and fabrication skills, Fieldston Middle is already developing a class focused on coding and computer engineering that will build on the foundational skills students gain in 6th Grade Computing.
The 6th Grade rotations do more than introduce students to the wide variety of middle school curricula. Health and Wellness Skills teaches essential social-emotional, academic, and executive functioning skills, while STS connects Middle Schoolers with peer mentors across the Upper School, strengthening cross-divisional connections.
The new Health and Wellness Skills curriculum was developed specifically to address the unique social, academic, and health challenges that students may face as they begin Fieldston Middle. “It’s an introductory health course combined with overviews of other skills that 6th Graders will need to navigate middle school, such as stress management and dealing with changing friend groups,” says Alschuler. “This course is taught by two of our counselors, so it’s also a great way for students to become familiar with our counseling team.”
Middle School Counselor Bree Aitoro sees the new curriculum as a comprehensive introduction to student well-being.“In order to be our best selves, we need to take a holistic approach to wellness and student success,” she explains. By studying topics ranging from puberty to conflict resolution in a structured, ethics-centered classroom environment, students enter better prepared to understand their physical and mental health.
By bringing together arts, computer science, wellness, and community support, these academic rotations support student growth at a key moment and prepare them academically and socially for the rest of middle school and beyond.
