Field Experiences
Authentic Experiences: Adolescents want to see their role in everything: they are active doers, not passive watchers or listeners.
The Middle School divides its curriculum into units of several weeks in length, each culminating in a group experience in the world outside the classroom.
- To cap their study of urban civilizations, students conduct a week-long study of the City of Houston, researching current problems or human achievements and then reporting on them through a series of site visits.
- After studying the history and practice of law, students present a mock trial in an actual courtroom downtown.
- The study of the fundamental needs of humans culminates in a class trip to the Colorado Plateau region of Arizona to work archeology sites with scientists in the field.
- The study of government spurs a week-long trip to Washington, DC, where students meet their representative in Congress, sit in on an oral argument in the Supreme Court, and see the Library of Congress.
Service to the Greater Houston Community
Community-oriented skills develop outside of the immediate group of teenagers and teachers. Students and staff are committed to weekly community service at different agencies around Houston to emphasize the need to help others, and bring to attention the comfortable modern lifestyles that many have taken for granted.