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Our WASC accredited educational model provides a solid foundation of college preparatory academic instruction, carefully selected elective classes, day-to-day guidance and ongoing, meaningful preparation for life during the critical middle school years.
Our Middle School instructors are highly qualified and experienced. Each teacher has been carefully selected for his/her innovative teaching style and enthusiastic interest in developing an educational model that meets the developmental needs of middle school students while meeting or exceeding state standards. Core areas of study are mathematics (including algebra and geometry), language arts (including foreign language), science and health (including biology, earth science and physics), and history. Middle School students attend traditional academic classes with options for honors English and Mathematics. Visual and performing arts, technology and physical education courses round out the program.
Middle School students take interesting and relevant day, overnight, and week-long excursions throughout their middle years. Wherever possible our instructors plan hands-on learning experiences for their students. Grade appropriate, curriculum relevant day trips to the Torrey Pines Reserve, Cabrillo National Monument, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Museum of Tolerance, Oceanview Mines and a multitude of other exciting destinations are planned each year to support student learning. In addition, our maturing students enjoy short overnight trips to prepare them for their longer middle school trips. Fifth grade students attend a three-day Astro Camp, Sixth grade students spend a night on a tall ship and spend four days in the local mountains. Seventh grade students anticipate a week-long trip to Yosemite all year long and the highlight for our graduating eighth grade students is a week-long trip to Washington D.C.
ECDS offers within its regular physical education instruction options for interscholastic sports, golf and dance. Visual and performing arts students have options for dance, drama, music, multi-media and display their arts and crafts at the school’s art show. Talented language arts students may elect to run for student council, produce news stories, enter the spelling bee, join the debate team or provide leadership to a community service project. Math and science wizards may work on entries to the County Science Fair with robotics, technology, environmental, biological or physics projects, The possibilities are limited only by our student’s imagination and determination.
In addition to the traditional four core classes, ECDS offers middle school students a unique fifth core class. Th is cross-curricular class provides regular integrated instruction and guidance in character education, study skills, goal setting, critical thinking and life skills. Our students begin their day with a non-sectarian prayer according to his/her own beliefs and are taught to end each day with a few minutes of quiet reflection in order to monitor progress, set goals and learn how to make necessary course corrections
We have organized our middle school into small groups of approximately 16 students sharing the same schedule, homeroom class and supervisor. These small groups join together for lunch, P.E., community service projects and other school-wide programs. This arrangement supports our students in their need to establish a sense of belonging to a group yet encourages the development of a larger circle of friends within the school community.
Research has shown that young adults perform best in programs that begin later in the morning and extend further into the afternoon. Our middle school day is scheduled between 8:30am and 3:15pm to meet the needs of our students. Independent P.E. may be arranged before, during or after school to support participation in competitive sports.
Our curriculum is the product of an ongoing effort to provide young adults with instruction to support the development of a balanced foundation of academic excellence, physical fitness, social awareness and moral strength. Our intent is to enter into a partnership of true support with the families we serve. Each member of our staff is aware of our commitment to serve your student with a vision of the adult he will be.
