Get ready to become a fierce learner.
Middle School at Westridge is an energetic and nurturing community where girls make connections between subjects, between learning and the real world, and between themselves and others.
Our students are silly, fun, and curious and ready for more analytical thinking—a powerful combination for deep learning. Our team of middle school specialists are experts in providing students with support, community, and habits of mind that allow students to rise to the new educational challenges of 7th and 8th grades.
Learning in the Middle School
Our Middle School curriculum is project-centered, interdisciplinary, and grounded in the skills necessary for academic achievement, intellectual growth, and social, emotional, and physical well-being.
Beginning in 7th grade, our program broadens to offer honors options in math, a slate of electives, year-long arts selections in visual arts, music, and theatre, and three options of world languages. Science, math, world language, integrated English/history, and a broad range of elective courses meet every other day for 70-minutes, and PE and a flexible block for advisory, clubs, assemblies, and student support are offered daily.
Our formal Human Development program—which focuses on supporting students as they navigate issues that impact their social, emotional, and physical lives—also begins in grade 7 with the course “It's Perfectly Normal,” followed by “Navigating My World” in grade 8.
Faculty Spotlight
Barbra Chabot,
Middle School Science Teacher
In this Q&A, science teacher and science department chair Barbra Chabot talks about the trajectory of student scientists in grades 4-12, her project-based teaching style, and what makes science different at Westridge and in middle school.
Why Girls' School?
Beyond building the skills and habits that will be necessary in high school, our program is designed to address the evolving developmental needs of girls in the 7th and 8th grades. As girls navigate adolescence, students are immersed in a program that is designed for them and that places women and their impact at its center. Girls are encouraged to cultivate a love of learning, to develop an understanding of who they are and their values, and to learn how to explore, think, and draw conclusions.
