Click here to view Upper Grade teacher testimonials.

Our instruction becomes more formal in grades six through eight. Students go from one classroom to another to study history, literature, English, science, mathematics, the arts, and French or Spanish. Rules that govern the patterns children have used intuitively in the earlier years are identified and defined, whether in grammar or number theory. Formal science study deepens understanding of earlier activities and experiments. Field education includes occasional overnight trips.

The arts are core to the upper grade program. Students may choose to concentrate in the areas of music, drama, or the visual arts. Everyone is involved in the production of musicals and plays, culminating in a performance of a Shakespeare play at the Folger Library's Elizabethan Theatre.

Upper grade students meet regularly in small groups comprised of students from each of the three different grade levels. The small group setting allows exploration of topics of mutual interest and fosters an atmosphere in which meaningful student-to-student and student-to-teacher conversations may occur.

In seventh and eighth grades, students take part in service activities within the School and outside in the Capitol Hill community. They work on collaborative projects with students their age from public schools in the neighborhood.

The upper grade students participate in physical education classes two or three times per week.  They may also join athletic teams to compete with other schools in soccer, basketball, softball, cross-country, and track.

Eighth graders are specially highlighted in traditions such as guiding tours during Admissions Open Houses, the March basketball game pitting them against members of the faculty and Board of Trustees, and a June graduation ceremony in which the entire School participates.

Upper grade students become the caregivers to the School. They are revered by children in the younger grades, and serve in roles of responsibility such as helping to conduct the all-school assemblies. Classmates form deep and lasting bonds.  Click here to view the upper grade photo album.