The new Richard B. Fisher Middle School offers twelve classrooms, three science rooms, a music and drama room, wireless computer technology and the Balderston Commons – a performance and assembly space that can seat the entire Middle School community. Open in September 2002, Penn Charter’s newest academic building is a wonderful environment designed especially for middle school students.

Sixth, seventh and eighth grade children undergo both change and growth, and the Middle School curriculum will meet their unique needs. It consists of required courses that develop important skills through a progression in content. While providing academic building blocks for future study, the Middle School curriculum is equally concerned with meeting the social, emotional and physiological needs of the preadolescent. These needs also are addressed by the Middle School advising system.

In order to provide a context for learning, the curriculum for each grade explores a unifying theme. The themes change from time to time. In the past, sixth-grade students have examined “journeys” in literature, history, myth, art, and – as a source of understanding and inspiration – in their own lives. In seventh grade, students have explored “sense of place” as defined by one’s self, peer group, family, culture and physical surroundings. Eighth-grade students have studied “collisions,” pondering conflicting values, laws, ideas and matter.

Math
The Middle School Math Program seeks to accomplish two tasks: 1) create a bridge between the concreteness of arithmetic and the abstractions that will follow in algebra and geometry; and 2) provide opportunities to tap into the natural curiosity and the enthusiasm for activities and learning that Middle School children bring to their classes.

Science
Science students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grade study Life Science, Physical Science and the Earth Science respectively. Experimentation is the focal point of all activities. From this perspective, students discuss, analyze and engage in problem-solving in order to draw conclusions about the phenomena they are studying.

English
Sixth grade students immerse themselves in the study and use of English during Language Arts blocks. The study of literature and reading for pleasure are important segments of the seventh and eighth grade course of study. The development of writing skills is emphasized throughout the Middle School program.

Social Studies
Sixth graders learn a variety of sociological, archaeological and anthropological terms and then apply them to a study of Eastern and Western cultures, focusing primarily on ancient civilizations. Seventh grade geography introduces students to the spatial arrangement and interaction of land, water, climate, people and cultures around the world. In the eighth grade, students begin the study of government and civics. Class trips to local courts and colonial Williamsburg in Virginia are integral to the curriculum.

Physical Education and Health
Sixth grade students participate in a full year of physical education and health class. Seventh grade students take a one-quarter physical education course and a one-quarter health course. Eighth grade students take a one-quarter physical education course and Choices, a popular one-quarter health course in which students explore the positive and negative choices they face as adolescents.