A Middle School Model that Works

middle schoolers sitting on a couch

Even though Arthur Morgan School ends with ninth grade, the impact of those precious preceding years at AMS stays with alumni and their families for years to come. Many of our students make life-long friendships with their AMS peers.  They remember the lessons they took while in the garden or wood shop. Mostly they remember […]

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How to Start a Mentoring Program at School

middle schoolers making emotional faces

Arthur Morgan School is in its final week of the year.  Students and staff are busy getting ready for graduation by cleaning, mowing, and weeding the campus. It is a time of celebration and excitement with lots of end of the year activities: a Tourists baseball game, tubing down the river, a mock prom.  Our […]

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What a Middle School Classroom Should Look Like

middle schoolers sitting in classroom

Teachers and students understand the importance of well laid out classroom.  The right environment will inspire creativity and a good work ethic.  It will help students feel ready to learn and a sense of ownership over their studies.  According to teachingonpurpose.org, there is a direct correlation between student behavior and the classroom set up. Students […]

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Why is Shop Class Important?

middle school student dissecting motor in shop class

Ruth and Rey were never that interested in auto mechanics.  Throughout their time at Arthur Morgan School, they focused on taking different classes. Having an artistic eye, Ruth leaned toward print making, pottery, or paper making. In these course she learned important scientific concepts while also expressing herself. Rey, on the other hand, had interests […]

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Teaching Blacksmithing to Middle Schoolers

middle schooler using a forge

When most people think about middle schoolers, the idea of putting them in a room with burning hot metal might seem crazy. Naturally clumsy and apt to distraction, these young adolescents don’t make the primary candidates for learning blacksmithing, a craft in which safety is a must.  However teaching blacksmithing to middle schoolers can be […]

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Why is Student Led Activism Important to Middle Schoolers?

middle schoolers and teacher smiling at march

If the March for Our Lives rally demonstrates anything, it’s that adolescents are eager to get involved. With estimates of over 200,000 attendees in D.C. alone and countless other demonstrations across the country, it’s apparent that teenagers are excited to voice their concerns about world events. Montessori describe 12-15 year olds as “…naturally drawn to causes […]

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Going Out! is Perfect for Montessori Approach

As a middle school that believes strongly in the Montessori approach, we love getting our students off campus.  Outdoor trips throughout the school year along with the 18 day field trips every spring provide our middle schoolers with natural and real world interactions. However while their away, our beautiful campus with its art studios, prepared […]

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Learning through Storytelling

middle schoolers in a van on a field trip

Every year when our 18 Day Field Trips return home, students share their experiences with their peers, parents, teachers, and community members.  Trip sharing is a community event to which all of Celo is invited. It is an opportunity for students to proudly present what they learned while traveling.  It also gives them the opportunity […]

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Why Experiential Learning is Effective

middle schoolers participating in Selma to Montgomery march reenactment

When most educators talk about experiential learning, they typically apply the concept to higher education or work training. They think of experiential learning as a way to prepare college graduates or new hires for employment.  Unfortunately when the term is applied to middle school classrooms, experiential learning usually has a more watered down connotation.  Websites […]

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Why Service Learning is Important

middle schoolers doing service learning beach cleanup

Service learning has always been a part of Arthur Morgan School’s 18 day field trips. Even in the school’s earliest trips, staff and students found communities that needed helping hands. The tradition continues today with the school’s current field trips. Through hard work and new relationships, our middle schoolers are gaining an understanding of why […]

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