Dear Middle School Families,
I know there is lots of anticipation about receiving the specifics of our plan to launch our school year for Middle School students and families. Though I am very sorry for not being able to share information with you sooner, the time was well spent designing a plan for our youngest community members.
This communication contains all of the information about:
- final weeks of August;
- the expanded orientation plan
- hybrid teaching + learning schedule;
- opportunities to connect with questions.
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Last week, we shared a big-picture plan with you;
below are more details.
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FINAL WEEKS OF AUGUST
Throughout the next two weeks, students and families will get access to advisors, individual student schedules, and our faculty introduction video.
These next two weeks are also a great time to do what we can to make sure students are ready to start their classes.
This includes:
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HYBRID SCHOOL FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL |
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Throughout September, in order to give both divisions access to the building, Middle School will be on campus Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Middle School will be fully online Thursdays and Fridays.
No matter what the scenario is (online, hybrid, or completely on campus) our schedule (times of classes, start and end of the day) has been designed to remain the same to ensure consistency for all.
Students who are online will follow classes and programming simultaneously.
Please note that depending on the health situation, and in alignment with our pendulum approach, the number of days on campus and/or online may shift. You will receive as much advance notice as possible when this happens.
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EXPANDED ORIENTATION: SEPTEMBER 8-18 |
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Hybrid schooling is new for all of us. We understand the importance of giving students and families as much information as possible to create feelings of safety and confidence to do school.
The overarching goal of our expanded orientation is to help every member of our Middle School community transition from summer into the school year. Our world is different and schooling is different. We want to do all we can to respond to the needs of students, families, and teachers. Starting our orientation program online will allow us to see each other and hear most directly from each other. Being online will minimize some of the distractions of being on campus.
Once we are on campus, having only one grade at a time on campus allows us to focus on specific grade needs, take our time to ensure understanding of safety practices and protocols and allow for students (and families) to get a feel of what the on campus elements of our hybrid plan will look like and feel like.

ONLINE
Middle School will start our expanded orientation online while Upper School is on campus
ON CAMPUS
We’ll begin our grade-level on-campus programming on September 14. Each grade will have its own day on campus (6th grade will be on campus Monday, followed by 7th on Tuesday and 8th grade on Wednesday). Thursday and Friday will be remote days for all Middle School students and plans will focus on gearing up for the following week.
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On-campus or online, the goals of the expanded orientation are the same. |
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The goals of our expanded orientation include:
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(Re)connect and build community: Beaver Middle School is about YOU and US together.
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Acclimate to and navigate the building and schedule: How do I make Beaver MY School?
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Learn about safety protocols: How do I keep myself and others safe?
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Introduce social-emotional practices: How will Beaver help me feel good and confident about doing school?
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Address grade-specific topics: How will I feel special as a 6th/7th/8th grader and part of my grade level community?
All students will connect with their advisor, meet their fellow advisees, hear from their course teachers, and attend class meetings. Students will also attend Middle School Meeting to connect as a full community to learn about upcoming events and opportunities.
A full orientation schedule will be shared soon.
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START OF CLASSES: SEPTEMBER 21 |
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Middle school students will continue our hybrid schedule—through the week of the 28th—attending their classes with their teachers according to their individual schedules (available in PowerSchool). |
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Middle School is able to start the school year with on-campus days when Upper School is fully remote. It is important that we are able to use the entire building to get acclimated to the on-campus aspects of our hybrid learning environment. More space allows our middle school to spread out and really focus on healthy use of spaces.
When the time comes for both divisions to be on campus at the same time, Middle School will still only be on-campus Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, but we will need to have smaller Middle School groups. Families will have advance notice about changes to on campus days
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You can submit a question ahead of time through this form.
Chat will be enabled during the Zooms so you may also submit questions real time during the session.
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We have two Zoom drop-in times with families scheduled this week. I look forward to connecting with you then.
The Tuesday session will be starting with US questions/concerns and the Wednesday session will be starting with MS questions/concerns. Each session will have representation from both divisions so you will be able to ask your questions, this way you can choose the session that best fits your schedule, even though it might not begin with the focus on your associated division.
These Zooms, by design and for the purpose of an open dialogue, will not be recorded. However we will be sharing a link to our FAQs page on the website that will cover what was missed if parents/guardians are unable to join.
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I know this is a very long communication, and I hope we have done a good job answering a lot of the questions about starting our school year. I also know there will be lingering questions and concerns about our plan. Please know all the work and time put in this summer demonstrates our commitment to creating a plan with your child’s academic, social, physical, and emotional well being in mind. We also want to make sure that safety remains our highest priority, while still keeping the essence of the Beaver learning experience that our students enjoy and our families expect.
We took your, your student’s, and our faculty’s feedback into consideration to design these plans. We will continue to check in with our Middle School community throughout the opening of school and on a regular basis moving forward.
And as always, we will continue to be flexible and to adapt.
In partnership,
Director of Middle School
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