Middle School

A learning-centered middle school where thinking is valued, visible, and actively promoted, in a developmentally appropriate, actively social setting.

In our middle school, our teachers pay attention to our students, our students pay attention to each other, and everyone pays attention to what really matters:  learning.

At TBS, middle school means a unique grade structure, a consistent and effective advisory program, a rigorously thoughtful academic curriculum, and a bedrock conviction that all students can learn and want to learn.  Using every resource available, our teachers work hard to create cultures of thinking and learning that suffuse every academic and social experience.  Our students consider ideas deeply and carefully; every day, they reflect on their own learning, understand their strengths and challenges, and reinforce the importance of making meaning together.

At TBS, middle school puts social and emotional well-being at the center of learning.  That’s why middle-school students begin and end almost every day in small advisory groups, interacting closely with each other in ways that further their emotional and social development and lay the foundation for our community values.  At a time when students’ intense desire for independence can overshadow their need for connection, we provide them with structure that guarantees they will know themselves, and be known to others around them,  as they continue to grow into young adults.

At TBS, middle school means students can, and should, learn differently.  For our teachers, that’s basic.  Unparalleled professional development opportunities (Project Zero, Facing History and Ourselves, Writers’ Workshop) allow our teachers make sound educational decisions.  Unmatched professional commitment means that our teachers infuse every aspect of a typical class period — the structure, the activities, the learning purpose, the process, and the product — with educational practices that work for all learners.  As a result, at a time when many middle schools begin to emphasize grades and test scores as fixed measures of students’ understanding, TBS emphasizes authentic assessments that reinforce students’ belief in their ability to learn and to grow.

And after eighth grade?  You’ll find TBS graduates at high schools throughout the Bay Area:  Berkeley High, Lick-Wilmerding, Urban, Athenian, Envision, Bentley, Head Royce, Millenium, College Preparatory School, Maybeck, St. Mary’s, Marin Academy…the list goes on.  When students know how they learn — and believe they can learn — they can do it everywhere:  public high schools, local independent schools, or boarding schools.

Please contact us for more information on our Middle School programs for international travel, inclusive intramural sports, art and music classes, Extended Day, and vacation camps.