We are unique in many ways. It is in the specifics of our approach that the differences are evident. Below are a few examples:

• Integrated Curriculum: Our integrated curriculum encourages a multi-faceted perspective that connects critical thinking, challenging academics and individual interests filtered through a lens of social connection. This creates a unique, compelling and relevant program.
• Social Emotional Focus: Our social-emotional program, based on current research and specific to a middle school student’s development, addresses all aspects of this stage in a student’s life. Everyday issues are addressed in real time so that the learning environment is safe, students are free to focus on their work, personal expression is honored and collaborative projects are productive.
• Community Collaboration: Teachers leverage the vast resources of our Boulder community to deepen the learning experience through day trips, field studies, and collaborations with businesses leaders, innovators and artists.
• Maker Space: A Maker Space encourages, enables and incorporates design thinking into lessons ensuring that students are literate in technological innovations and creative tools.
• Mini-Courses: Mini-Courses offer our middle school students the opportunity to have new experiences without full semester commitments while expanding their connections to the community, other students and themselves.

• Teachers Know Students: Teachers know their students’ personal goals, interests, challenges, and skills. This knowledge helps teachers focus on individual learning styles, passions and accomplishments.
• Students Know Fellow Students: Students know each other well as they regularly work together in a wide range of social, academic, learning and community experiences.
• A Social-Emotional Education: A small environment allows for attention to social-emotional conversations, reflection and growth during the complex middle school experience. Brain research confirms that the stress of interpersonal drama, peer pressure, grades and family challenges inhibits learning. Helping students work through social and emotional challenges puts their brains in a better state for learning and retaining knowledge.
• Every Student Has A Voice: In a smaller school environment, there is room for each student to have a voice and influence their school experience.
• Students Develop Advanced Social Skills: Each student learns social skills such as deep listening, authentic speaking, compromise development, problem-solving, an understanding of personal motivations and issue resolution. In a smaller environment, individuals cannot turn to a different group of students to avoid conflict.
• Flexibility: We can take advantage of community opportunties as they arise and are related to the overarching theme.

• Integrated learning is at the heart of a liberal arts education. It requires higher order thinking skills and teaches students to see from multiple vantage points as they gain a deeper understanding of subjects and situations.
• Get engaged. “Emotion drives attention, attention drives memory, and memory drives learning.” When students work with others on complex ideas, and make connections in active ways, they develop more than just factual knowledge. They tend to work harder and with more effort and attention than traditional lecture-based classes.
• Know yourself better. The ideas that people have about themselves and the world are shaped by their experiences. Meaningful experiences help us make connections across subject areas, learn in new ways, solve problems and understand ourselves better.
• Connect to your education. In the real world, we solve problems using whatever knowledge and resources we have. Integrated Curriculum helps us access, understand, and make use of all these available resources.
• High standards. Our Integrated Curriculum incorporates high academic standards across all lessons, projects and experiences while honoring each student’s individual strengths and challenges.
• More information. See more detail of our Integrated Curriculum here.

Inspired by students. Friends Middle School offers enrichment activities inspired by the students. Sample enrichment classes:

• Field Hockey
• Marimba
• Ice Skating
• Running Club
• Puzzle Club

• Knowledge of Individual Strengths: Individual strengths are nurtured and understood through high standards and clear expectations that allow our students the freedom to stretch intellectual boundaries, and widen personal experiences.
• Differentiated Teaching: Differentiated teaching stems from the belief that each student is a unique individual with unique talent and possibility. This approach encourages each student’s success now and into the future.
• Research-Based Teaching: Research-based teaching strategies engage middle school students with inquiry-based learning, presentations, projects and integration between subject areas. This approach provides physical and emotional context for learning, ensuring greater recall of knowledge and concepts beyond middle school.
• Real World Experiences: We provide experiences relevant to the “real” world to inspire our students to connect what they are learning in the classroom with practical applications. This ensures the relevance of what they are learning in class and nurtures their natural curiosity about their role in the world.
• Skill Building: Over and over we hear from high school teachers and administators that what students need for success in high school is a host of skills for life:
  • self advocacy
  • organization/timekeeping
  • resiliency in the face of mistakes/failure
  • stress management skills
  • self-reflection
  • emotional knowledge & management

All of these are intentionally addressed on a regular basis, so students graduate as confident, capable, and resilient community members.

• Current students. Current Friends School students do not need to apply for the middle school. They only need to re-enroll as previously done to move on to the next grade level. Re-enrollment contracts are issued in January.
• Our process. When spaces are available and an applicant has completed the steps in the application process, the admissions committee consider a number of factors in finalizing admissions decisions. These include appropriate fit for Friends School, siblings of returning students or alumni, and classroom composition.
• Financial status is not a consideration. Admissions decisions are made without regard to financial status. Admission to the school is offered before a family is placed on the tuition scale or financial aid is awarded.

• • Available for enrolled students. Financial assistance is available for middle school families as it is for elementary and preschool students.

• Parent education. Friends School provides parent education about the early adolescent years that honors students and helps parents navigate this time in a positive way.
• Stay connected to teachers. Regular communication from teachers will always keep you in the loop.
• A strong foundation. You can be confident that your student is receiving an exceptional educational experience based on deep engagement, long tradition, current research and teachers’ knowledge of how students learn best.