The Upper School: Grades 7 & 8
Academics
The Imago Upper School consists of Grades 7 and 8. While we do accept new students into these Grades, our primary aim is to build on the study skills gained and the content presented in Grades 1-6 and to make these years the capstone of an Imago education. All teachers at Imago are encouraged to have a clear picture of the end of education at Imago and how they contribute toward that end. The curriculum builds year by year toward graduating a student who can think clearly and communicate articulately and who has mastered a body of knowledge which will help him or her understand the world.
Students in Grades 7 and 8 study five major subjects: English, Mathematics, History, Science, and Latin. Except for in math, there is one section for each class and there are no electives. Three different math classes are offered over the two years so that advanced math students are able to complete Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, and either Geometry or Algebra II before they graduate. (These students have skipped a year of basic math in the earlier Grades and taken Pre-Algebra as 6th Graders.) Two years of Latin are required for all 7th and 8th Graders.
There are generally three or four teachers who teach these subjects. Upper School students are expected to have the study skills in place to keep track of assignments made by these teachers independently and to keep notes and papers in a well- organized notebook or notebooks.
Co-Curricular and Service
All Upper School students also have a music class, an art class, a drama class, and a physical education class once a week. All students sing in the Upper School chorus and all participate in a yearly dramatic production of a play or musical. A double period is devoted to physical education each week to enable students to go off-site to fields, gyms, or ice rinks for learning, practicing, and playing a variety of sports together over the year. All are part of a co-ed soccer team, which plays against other private schools several times a year.
We believe that attention needs to be given to more than just academic life for our Upper Schoolers and toward this end one faculty member serves as School Life Coordinator and organizes co-curricular and extra-curricular activities such as soccer games and student-led activities with the kindergartners and 1st Graders.
Upper Schoolers are encouraged to serve the school and the younger children in the school. Students are divided into service teams which are led by 8th Grade students chosen by the faculty to be team leaders. These teams do a variety of chores and tasks mostly in the school and occasionally for someone in the community. All Upper Schoolers have buddies in kindergarten or 1st Grade; new students to the school in other Grades also have Upper School buddies. We strive to develop qualities of servant- leadership in these oldest students in the school.
Each year the Upper School takes a trip in May to either New York City or Washington D.C. and Gettysburg for four or five days of visiting historical sites and museums. This experience both broadens their horizons and helps build camaraderie among the Upper Schoolers.
