Middle School
Grades 5 through 8
The Middle School empowers girls entering grades 5 to 8 to take academic risks, develop new skills, and discover their passions.
A Place that Really (Really) Gets Middle School Girls
Middle school is a wonderful time of growth and change, especially for girls—academically, physically, socially, and emotionally.
At The Ellis School, we embrace the exciting, and sometimes challenging, aspects of this stage in a girl’s life. We understand your daughter’s need for increased independence and your needs as her parent to think ahead about her future. Middle School girls learn by doing, love having choices, and rise to creative challenges. This makes The Ellis Middle School an exciting place for girls who are inquisitive and joyful learners, engaged and culturally aware community members, and resilient problem solvers.
Why Start with Fifth Grade?
Parents often ask why our Middle School begins in fifth grade. Based on years of experience working with girls, we believe students should start middle school from a position of strength that honors and respects this time of rapid growth.
It is in these crucial years that, more often than not, girls are directly or indirectly dissuaded from certain interests and can feel powerless in charting their future course. We believe that fifth grade—when girls tend to have abundant confidence and enthusiasm—is the best time to transition to greater independence and choice. This approach is distinctive in that it reinforces girls’ confidence during these middle years, empowers them to build their autonomy, and surrounds girls with expansive opportunities for exploration.
Growing Self-confidence through Support and Challenge
We know that girls are more willing to explore their strengths and stretch themselves in areas of growth when they feel both supported and challenged.
Through our distinctive advisory program, we carve out time for students to connect with their faculty advisors and peers. By providing time in the school day to engage in constructive dialogue, girls navigate what it means to have a healthy self-image; develop their individual sense of justice; and practice communication, negotiation, and advocacy skills that grow remarkable self-confidence and empower them to pursue their dreams.
What is the Middle School Like?
Middle School News
List of 8 news stories.
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Sixth Grade Service Project Supports Jeremiah’s Place
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ESSA Helps Ellis Middle Schoolers Build Advocacy Skills
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Ellis Announces Middle School Renovation Project
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Sixth Graders Become Explorers at Frick Environmental Center Visit
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Fine Arts Festival Returns to Ellis
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Tiger Institute to Join Classes, Focus on Special Topics
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Fifth Grade Class Writes Its Own Ellis Experience, One Play at a Time
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Wellness Day Teaches Students to Balance Study with Mindfulness
