An independent day school serving grades K-12 | St. Paul, MN

Grade 6

In Grade 6, all students are new to the Randolph Campus at SPA. Middle School marks a significant transition for students as they prepare for greater engagement and challenge in their academic studies.

The Grade 6 curriculum includes significant emphasis on organizational skills, study skills, and time management. Under the guidance of their teachers and advisor, students begin the process of understanding their own personal strengths and challenges as learners. They are asked to reflect frequently on their work, on their role in the community, and on their personal goals for the school year. 

The transition to Middle School in Grade 6 is also a time of change for parents. As students try new roles and seek more independence, parents move into a role that is more about support and guidance than direction. Advisors work closely with parents in Grade 6 to create open forums for communication between home and school, but unlike in the Lower School, the student is now involved in the conversation as well. In Grade 6, students become comfortable with the processes of reflection. Teachers will send home completed work periodically to have students review the work with their parents; parents use this opportunity to review teacher comments and feedback, reflect on the student’s preparation for the project or assessment, and jot down any questions for the teacher. Teachers may also send home academic progress reports through Veracross to note unsatisfactory or missing work, a sudden change in habit or performance, or to share a significant accomplishment or area of growth.

An overview of the academic curriculum and areas of focus in Grade 6 is to the right.

Overview

Subject Areas

Each fall, Grade 6 students do an offsite retreat to work on team building, learn new skills, and build community as a class. See photos from this year's retreat to Camp Eden Wood.

Grade 6 is the first year students are assigned a school-owned laptop for use in school and at home. Laptops are used across classes as an essential tool learning, and are also often used for extracurricular activities such as Lego League and Middle School Yearbook.

Each spring, Grade 6 students use the skills the physics concepts and skills they've learned in science class to launch rockets.

Heart of the Beast residency: The focus of the week-long work with Heart of the Beast is on identity: exploration of one's own identity and better understanding of the identities of others. Students work with the HOTB artists to understand how to portray character and create emotion through the use of movement and masks.