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Students in fifth through eighth grades are considered to be in the middle grades. Students in the middle grades wear blazers and are awarded special ties based on their grade point averages. School culture is such that students strive to earn a blue and silver tie (honor roll) or even a red and blue tie (high honor roll) while helping their fellow classmates to achieve the same goals. Students in the middle school take the first line of the school covenant extremely seriously: “As a student in the St. Marcus community I WILL do everything in my power to ensure my academic success and that of my fellow classmates.” This, combined with a lot of hard work, sweat, and tears, is why so many new students to St. Marcus turn past failures into stunning successes. The middle grades at St. Marcus are departmentalized with homeroom teachers teaching two to three subjects and students traveling to other rooms to receive instruction in additional classes.
The daily schedule for a typical middle school student would run as follows: 6:30 am (optional) | Arrive at school for individualized / small group help from a teacher | 7:00 am | Early morning study hall begins (optional) | 8:00-8:45 am | Religion | 8:45-10:05 am | Language Arts | 10:05-10:35 am | Renaissance Math (computer-based individualized instruction) | 10:35-11:30 am | Math | 11:30-12:15 am | Renaissance Reading (individualized reading program) | 12:15-1:00 pm | Lunch | 1:05-1:45 pm | Science | 1:50-2:30 pm | Novels | 2:35-3:15 pm | History | 3:20-3:55 pm | Elective/Foundations | 4:00-4:10 pm | Assignment Notebook | 4:10-4:15 pm | Dismissal | 4:15-5:00 pm | Power Hour | 6:30-8:30 pm | College Prep Center |
Students new to the school often struggle to keep up academically and to complete the significant amount of studying required at home. These students are encouraged to contact their teachers (who are available via cell phone 24 hours a day), attend morning study hall and stay for Power Hour at the end of the day. This kind of effort, combined with encouragement from classmates, teachers, and parents, enables struggling students to become highly successful. The school’s pattern of achieving extremely respectable Terra Nova and WKCE (Wisconsin Knowledge & Concepts Exam) test scores provides evidence of this kind of success.
Students are rewarded for their hard work and diligence with the Discover America Program. This program provides field trips on most Friday afternoons to places such as the opera, a coffee shop, ice skating, skiing, Chicago, Madison and a weekend camping trip. At the end of the year, students who have met behavioral and academic expectations have the opportunity to participate in 10-13 day cross-country trips. These trips are the capstone of each curriculum and tie together concepts from social studies, math and science. Click here for more information. Students who graduate from St. Marcus are truly college bound!
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