Teaching Students to Ask Questions Instead of Answering Them

two middle schoolers holding their chins whilepondering life's questions

Middle school sometimes gets a bad rap. Dealing with young adolescents’ unpredictable emotions and behaviors is hard. It makes us forget that middle school is also a lot of fun. Learning evolves into something bigger during this age. Instead of just memorizing multiplication tables or vocabulary terms, middle schoolers also want to ponder larger concepts. […]

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Making the Most of Field Trips

middle schoolers on a field trip looking out at on a bridge

Every spring the middle schoolers of Arthur Morgan School embark on 18 day long field trips.  The trips are the culmination of a five week academic unit in which the students have learned about a specific topic. Sometimes these topics are science based. Other times they are social studies or art based.  This year we are […]

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When a Teenager Loses a Parent

middle schoolers holding hands in a circle

A question I get a lot is what type of student comes to Arthur Morgan School.  We get students from all over. A lot of middle schoolers seek us out because they want school to be something more than sitting at a desk.  Others choose us because they want a school where they can openly […]

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Why Chores are Good

two middle schoolers washing dishes

It’s just after dinner and there is a large pile of dishes in the sink. Your teenager beside you is quickly scarfing the last remnants of food from their plate and making sideway glances at their phone. You are exhausted from your day and want nothing more than to relax, but you have a difficult […]

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Addressing Climate Change Through Education

Two middle schoolers laying in the sun.

Two years ago while on an 18 days field trip to Florida, a group of our students visited a city council meeting . On the agenda was addressing the disappearing coastline. To some, a city council meeting might seem boring, but our students were fascinated. They watched the adults in the room talk about how […]

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When Will It Snow?

two middleschoolers looking out sadly at rain

Going to boarding school occasionally has its disadvantages. For example, the middle schoolers at Arthur Morgan School almost never have a snow day. Since most of the students live right on campus and can walk from their boarding houses to the academic buildings, there is never a reason to cancel school. Even when 2009’s infamous […]

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Teaching about Forced Migrations

teacher showing a middle schooler an artifact from a archaeological dig

The theme of one our three 18 day field trips this year is teaching about forced migrations. In the course preparing for the trip, we will focus on the push/pull factors that have driven three important mass movements of people: the Trail of Tears; the post-Reconstruction “Great Migration” of Black Americans and today’s humanitarian crisis […]

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Designing a Better Boarding School Campus

two middle schoolers discussing a project in class

One of Arthur Morgan School’s greatest strengths is its campus. A hundred acres of farm and wilderness mixed with academic and art spaces makes for a perfect boarding school campus that inspire students to learn and express themselves. As a community we are always striving to improve our students’ experience. We want them to take […]

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What Do You Learn From Middle School?

a middle school student feeling successful

It’s been just over a year since I graduated Arthur Morgan School and being back on campus for a few days, it feels like very little has changed. I feel fifteen again, scared and excited for whatever comes next, taking for granted my community, my safe place, the thought of being far away still very […]

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Best Way to Start Off the School Year

middle schoolers sliding down a waterfall

Middle schoolers experience lots of anxiety when they start a new school year. They switch teachers for all their classes and face higher expectations. They meet new people and need to figure out new social norms. Their changing body feels awkward and causes self-consciousness. Emotions can be intense and last longer than they are used to feeling. […]

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