MIDDLE SCHOOL

Middle School starts in fourth grade at Holland Hall. By transitioning our students earlier, they engage with faculty members who are specialists in their subjects sooner, exploring ever more complex ideas. But fourth- and fifth-graders have their own wings within the larger school that quickly build community.

Each homeroom teacher serves as an advisor, a system that carries through the Upper School. Advisors help students choose classes and sports and generally make sure everything is going smoothly for each child.

Students attend an English/Language Arts class, Math, Science, Social Studies, and a World Language class that introduces French and Spanish.

Recess is still an integral part of the day, as are enrichment programs including Music, Drama, Visual Arts, Library, Technology, and Religious Education. Students also participate in Physical Education daily.

In our Middle School math courses, students engage in inquiry activities, reason with mathematical relationships, and make connections.

Special Events
Outdoor Day, Field Day, B.E.A.R. (Be Enthusiastic About Reading) Night, writing and delivering of books to Crosstown Learning Center, Living Museum, Bird Festival, trips to the Oklahoma Science Museum (OKC) and Tulsa Zoo, America Day, the Sakawa/Wanata Track Meets, Engineering Fair, Field Day, School Out of Doors, the Brain Fair, and multiple service learning trips.
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This critical year is a bridge between the self-contained pods of fourth and fifth grades and the "upper hall" where seventh- and eighth-graders start preparing for the freedoms of Upper School. 

Students choose more electives, see different friends in each class and start digging deep into research methods. 

Students are placed in a math class that is developmentally appropriate with the goal being for students to grow as confident, resilient problem-solvers who are able to think and transfer skills to non-routine situations.

In English, students read a variety of genres, expanding students' ability to grasp both literal and interpretive meaning. Often, assignments in English cross over into Social Studies. Students are constantly reading and talking about related events and similar periods of time.

In Science, sixth-graders dissect a sheep's brain — a much anticipated assignment. Students also choose Spanish or French in sixth grade, giving them a solid foundation to continue their language study through Middle School and into their Upper School years.
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The last two middle school years start preparing students for life in the Upper School. Students move to the upper hall in the building, moving between classes instead of being in a self-contained wing. Students begin taking the lead in clubs and student government, developing those critical thinking and leadership skills. They can also choose between more electives and start playing team sports.

Students take a math course that will provide both a strong foundation and a stimulating, challenging learning experience for their future studies of math whether that be 7th grade math, pre-algebra, algebra, or geometry.

In social studies, students concentrate on history from 600 C.E. to 1400 C.E., and in eighth grade, they return to the study of U.S. history from the birth of the U.S. Constitution to the Vietnam War and Civil Rights era.
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Students begin taking dedicated Religious Education courses in the Middle School.

The Bible is a book of faith for many, but it is also literature, poetry, and history. Therefore, the aim of our religious education program is to provide some Biblical literacy. For sixth grade, the students are exposed to a nine-week survey of the Old Testament, spanning the creation story to the exile of the nation of Israel into the Babylonian Captivity.

For seventh grade, students have a similar nine-week survey of the New Testament, beginning with a review of I & II Chronicles, which lays out messianic expectations, and then moves through the life of Jesus through the Gospel writers and the Letters of Paul.

Because Holland Hall is an ecumenical community that includes and embraces many different faiths and beliefs, none of the courses are offered with the intent of proselytizing. Again, the aim is literacy, not conversion. All questions, opinions, and perspectives are encouraged and valued. Class is facilitated through videos and discussions.