Head of School's Message: Nov. 17
At last Wednesday evening’s Middle School and Beyond presentation a panel of current 6th – 8th grade students and young alumni spoke about their Middle School experience to Lower School parents.
“The 5th grade teachers prepared us well,” said our 6th grade panelist. She described how the role of an advisor, the rotation of classes, and teachers who specialize in their subjects are the obvious differences between Lower and Middle School.
The 7th grade representative talked about managing a laptop and his successful struggle to avoid being tempted by the potential distractions of the device. “If I stretch out my homework time by going to apps or playing games on the computer, I go to bed too late. If I go to bed late I get up late and miss breakfast. That means I’m hungry at school. I hate being hungry!” He talked about his public speaking skills being helped by his participation on the debate team.
“We learn how to manage our time,” said one of the 8th graders on the panel who plays on a travel hockey team. “The block schedule allows me to pace my assignments. I am able to get ahead on weekends because homework is posted on Fridays.”
The five high school panelists from Poly, Westridge, Flintridge Prep and Harvard-Westlake echoed our 8th grader’s testimonial about how well Chandler taught them to manage their time.
“The high school transition was easy. The physics we learned in Mr. Korn’s class made freshman science a breeze,” said a Poly freshman.
“In my sophomore biology class I use the notes I took in Mr. Calderon’s class,” a Harvard Westlake sophomore said. He added that many of his high school classmates did not have the experience of taking finals in middle school which left them stressed when they took finals for the first time as freshman. He said that test preparation and finals experience at Chandler made the high school transition less jolting.
“I learned essay writing structure at Chandler that I have used in each year of high school,” said a Flintridge Prep senior who is now on the student senate at Prep after being on the student council at Chandler.
The five high school panelists concurred that Chandler’s math program prepared them to enter the highest levels of freshmen math. “The strength of the algebra preparation at Chandler got me ready for the analytical functions and geometry class that I’m taking at Poly now,” said one of the freshmen
In response to a question about Middle School math, Anneke Emerson reminded the audience that we are not planning to move away from Saxon math in grades 6-8. The conceptual Singapore math curriculum taught in Lower School will provide an even stronger foundation for middle school algebra.
When asked by Anneke Emerson what advice our graduates would give to current students, the response was to ask for help when they need it and not to stress about secondary school. The message we hand down from one Chandler generation to the next is to trust the process. Our graduates remind us how well it works.
John Finch
Head of School
Back
The 7th grade representative talked about managing a laptop and his successful struggle to avoid being tempted by the potential distractions of the device. “If I stretch out my homework time by going to apps or playing games on the computer, I go to bed too late. If I go to bed late I get up late and miss breakfast. That means I’m hungry at school. I hate being hungry!” He talked about his public speaking skills being helped by his participation on the debate team.
“We learn how to manage our time,” said one of the 8th graders on the panel who plays on a travel hockey team. “The block schedule allows me to pace my assignments. I am able to get ahead on weekends because homework is posted on Fridays.”
The five high school panelists from Poly, Westridge, Flintridge Prep and Harvard-Westlake echoed our 8th grader’s testimonial about how well Chandler taught them to manage their time.
“The high school transition was easy. The physics we learned in Mr. Korn’s class made freshman science a breeze,” said a Poly freshman.
“In my sophomore biology class I use the notes I took in Mr. Calderon’s class,” a Harvard Westlake sophomore said. He added that many of his high school classmates did not have the experience of taking finals in middle school which left them stressed when they took finals for the first time as freshman. He said that test preparation and finals experience at Chandler made the high school transition less jolting.
“I learned essay writing structure at Chandler that I have used in each year of high school,” said a Flintridge Prep senior who is now on the student senate at Prep after being on the student council at Chandler.
The five high school panelists concurred that Chandler’s math program prepared them to enter the highest levels of freshmen math. “The strength of the algebra preparation at Chandler got me ready for the analytical functions and geometry class that I’m taking at Poly now,” said one of the freshmen
In response to a question about Middle School math, Anneke Emerson reminded the audience that we are not planning to move away from Saxon math in grades 6-8. The conceptual Singapore math curriculum taught in Lower School will provide an even stronger foundation for middle school algebra.
When asked by Anneke Emerson what advice our graduates would give to current students, the response was to ask for help when they need it and not to stress about secondary school. The message we hand down from one Chandler generation to the next is to trust the process. Our graduates remind us how well it works.
Most sincerely,
John Finch
Head of School
