The Middle Years Program at St. Margaret’s School (SMS) engages students in Grades 5 – 8 in a unique set of learning opportunities while maintaining the benefit of connections in a JK–Grade 12 environment. We provide our girls with the foundations for success: challenges to excel, experiences that inspire, and preparation for the future.

Our Middle Years teachers are a dedicated group of educators who bring a wide range of expertise and interests to the group, and who thrive in guiding and mentoring students in these grades. This is a cohesive program that builds upon the foundations of early years learning and develops incrementally towards the greater independence and flexibility of choices in Grades 9 through 12. Teachers and other Middle Years staff work together daily to plan out cross curricular, leadership and service opportunities for our girls, whose needs in timetabling, course offerings, teacher contact, and social and emotional development are uniquely different from their younger and older peers.

Students have embraced the program, noting that the highlights for them include making connections between subject areas, the exposure to a diverse range of learning activities and teachers, the opportunity to work alongside students at different grade levels, and the creativity and ingenuity that they are able to demonstrate in the Innovation block*.

Innovation is a regularly scheduled block in the timetable. This period of “structured independence” allows students to pursue individual passions, practice skills for lifelong learning and focus on improvement in personal areas of challenge.