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Middle School Programs

Advisory and SEL

The AVS Middle School advisory program is designed to foster relationships and promote a sense of “connectedness” within our community. Connectedness reflects our school culture, where students form meaningful relationships with both adults and peers, actively engage in school life, and feel a strong sense of belonging.

The goals of the Advisory program are to:

  • Cultivate a community grounded in respect, responsibility, and empathy.
  • Support students' academic growth and readiness through a “whole child” lens.
  • Support and strengthen students' social-emotional skills and competencies.
  • Equip students with the language and skills needed to thrive in a culturally diverse and inclusive environment.
Advisory Core Concepts
SEL Core Competencies
  • Self-Awareness

  • Self-Management

  • Responsible Decision-Making

  • Relationship Skills

  • Social Awareness

RULER Routines
  • Sixth-graders will explore self-awareness and relationship-building.

  • Seventh-graders will explore identity and agency.

  • Eighth-graders will explore decision making and advocacy.

Anti-Bias, Multicultural & Social Justice Issues
  • Identity

Students will develop understanding and language, recognize, affirm, and accurately describe multiple identity groups in themselves and others.
  • Diversity

Students will express understanding of, develop language about, and build empathy, respect, understanding, and connection with people who are both similar and different from them.
  • Justice

Students will recognize stereotypes, unfairness, and injustice on individual and community levels; analyze and identify the harmful impact of bias and prejudice.
  • Action

Students will express empathy and speak up when they observe exclusion and mistreatment due to an individual’s identity; recognize their own responsibility to stand up to prejudice and bias; and make principled decisions about and take steps to address when/how to address bias in their everyday lives.

 

Humanities and STEM Expos

At the end of the first trimester, middle school students showcase their learning in English, social studies, and Spanish to the community. At the end of the second trimester, the science, technology, and math departments collaborate to present the STEM Expo. In this event, students explore problem-solving within the AVS community, reflecting on what community means to them and how they can use science, technology, engineering, and math to design solutions for identified needs. They focus on authentic inquiries and design their own experiments, investigations, and engineering solutions to address real-world problems. All AVS parents and students are invited to attend the Middle School Expos.

Art Bonanza

At the end of each trimester, students in music, drama, and art showcase their learning. The trimester culminates in a two-day arts event where our instrumental music students share their performances, drama students put on a play, and art students present a gallery walk of their projects. All middle school families are invited to attend these performances, which occur three times a year and are affectionately referred to as the Arts “Bananza.”

J-Term Experiential Learning

J-Term is our end-of-year celebration of experiential learning at Alta Vista School. During this week-long program, teachers collaborate in pairs to design unique, immersive projects for students, culminating in a school-wide Expo on the final day. These projects are driven by both teacher and student interests, offering students a chance to explore topics and experiences that go beyond the boundaries of traditional academic classes.

Past J-Term projects have included exploring San Francisco, service learning with local non-profits, building special effects, constructing escape rooms, creating and using cameras, and dissections and anatomical illustrations.

J-Term is a natural extension of AVS’s student-centered approach to learning, encouraging students to broaden their interests through innovative and growth-oriented experiences. Through collaboration with teachers, peers, and community partners, our students finish the year with an exciting, hands-on week of exploration and discovery.

Assessments & Reporting

Assessments continually inform instruction and curriculum development. Pre-, post-, formative, and summative assessments are scheduled throughout the academic year. Following each assessment, data is collected and analyzed to measure the learning growth of a student, inform differentiated grouping, and support any necessary interventions. An assessment is used to generate a clear narrative of a student’s progress within each trimester and across the academic year.

An evaluation scale is used by teachers to determine a student's progress toward learning targets within each subject area. Teachers use the evaluation scale when observing and reflecting on a student’s output during daily activities, work products, projects, and class discussions. When a trimester ends, teachers gather evidence of a student’s progress, and this information is shared with parents through the trimester report.

All students are evaluated on department standards and receive a Mastery, Proficient, Emerging, or Novice “grade” for each standard. In the seventh and eighth grades, these MPEN grades are translated into traditional letter grades for the purpose of transcripts for High School applications.


Letter Criteria
M

Mastery

Student demonstrates an extended understanding of the standard through advanced application of the skills.

P

Proficient

Student consistently and independently meets all criteria of the standard by using and applying knowledge of skills in context.

E

Emerging

Student requires support to meet the criteria of the standard and to use and apply knowledge of skills in context.

N

Novice

Student does not yet meet the standard with support.

NE

Not Evaluated 

Standard has not been assessed or evaluated yet.