Middle School Signatures
Our responsive Middle School is tailored for transformation. And our signatures are a key part of the magic. They’re how we make our program developmentally responsive to your specific needs. How we stoke curiosity, foregrounding wellness and community, and bringing our core values of discovery, innovation, collaboration, and excellence to life.
STudent support
Advisory Program
You deserve to have someone in your corner—someone that has a 10,000 foot view of all things you. Our advisory program connects every student with a faculty advisor who serves as their trusted adult, mentor, and advocate. In addition to helping you to advocate for yourself, they’ll work closely with your parents, communicating feedback and offering personal and academic guidance. In advisory, you’ll also meet regularly with a group of your peers, participating in social opportunities and team-building activities that will help you find your important place within our community.
Charger Trails
Our Charger Trails program is designed to empower you with the decision-making skills, healthy habits, and social and emotional skills required to become a confident, contributing member of your community. Every year you’ll embrace a new theme—community (6th), collaboration (7th), and compassion (8th)—and explore it with your peers and teachers through engaging guest presenters, informative videos, collaborative discussion groups, interactive role-playing opportunities, immersive games, reflective writing, and more.
Examine what it means to be a good digital citizen. Learn how to strike a healthy balance between academics and home life (and maybe even get your inner zen on in yoga or pilates). Consider the parameters of healthy relationships and productive, meaningful collaboration. And thoughtfully explore issues of community, inclusion, and equity. Through deep engagement with these topics and more, you’ll strengthen your relationships, expand self-awareness, gain insights into healthy ways to navigate our community and the larger world, and take personal responsibility for your actions and learning. In short: you’re going to rock Middle School and beyond.
Community Dining
Lunchtime is community-building time, and everyone has a seat and voice at the table. Every day you’ll enjoy a family-style lunch in rotating grade-level groups, building a strong foundation with friends and teachers that will be by your side all year long. Consider it part of how we grow your circle to make sure that everyone feels connected.
Finding your place
Grade-level Trips
A big part of Middle School is finding your place. Your identity and voice. Your confidence. That’s why every year, you’ll participate in a community-forging trip, with each grade level departing campus to embark on a new adventure together. Whether conquering a high ropes course in the North Carolina mountains or studying marine biology at the coast, these trips are an opportunity to make new friends. To build deeper connections with your teachers and advisors. To push yourself outside of your comfort zone. To learn and to grow.
Exploring interests
Student Clubs
We believe extracurriculars are important. They’re an important way to make friends, get to know your teachers, try out new interests, and delve deeper into your passions. That’s why we give you time during the school day to pursue interests that might not typically be addressed in class.
Our extensive club offerings are student-proposed and student-driven. And with 40+ to choose from, you’re sure to find one that speaks to you. Board games? Yep. Art? Pick your medium. Music or dance? Check. Math superstar or robotics tinkerer? Yes and yes. Underwater basket weaving? If you can find a faculty advisor and make a strong case for learning, maybe.
Team Concept
At CA, you don’t just have teachers. You have a team. A whole group of teachers in your corner dedicated to working together to deliver the best possible experience tailored to nurture your growth. Rather than working independently, your collaborative grade-level team will meet regularly to coordinate curriculum across disciplines and discuss your specific needs and progress. It’s one of the core ways we deliver a highly personalized and holistic experience, immersive interdisciplinary projects, and constant and consistent communication.
Sixth-grade Team:
Back Row: Jeanne Pullen (Math), Matthew Ripley-Moffitt (World Cultures), Katie Taylor (Language Arts)
Middle Row:Dawn Smith (Math/Asst Head of MS), Emily Turner (Vocal Music), Danae Shipp (Science), Katie Levinthal (World Cultures/Language Arts),
Front Row: Nuria Lopez (Spanish), Alyssa Armstrong (Visual Arts) Longzhi Lund (Chinese)
Seventh-grade Team: Fred Haas (Science), Michael Raskevitz (Math), Leslie Williams (Math), Glen Matthews (Theater), Gabriele Verhoeven (German), Matthew Koerner (Language Arts), Allison McCoppin (Science), Lucy Dawson (Language Arts/World History), Alicia Morris (World History)
Eight-grade Team: Pat Martin,, Laura Price, Jane Panhorst, Sara Mizelle, Tyler Gaviria, Meredith Stewart, Jasmine Powell, Andrew Chiaraviglio, David Snively
Charging toward transformation