7th Grade

Seventh Grade

Asking Harder Questions

A pivot year, research skills begin, science becomes the world of the lab, the arts take wing, and writing grows a spine.

Signature Experience

Washington, DC.

The learning comes alive as students stand in the institutions they study — from the monuments to the halls of government — experiencing history in real time as they investigate the inspiring places of our nation’s capital and prepare to move into leadership.

Special Studies

Special Studies Week.

Each year, seventh and eighth grade students explore new interests through unique, teacher-designed mini-courses — from rocket building, yoga, and line dancing to statistics through sports, baking, orienteering, and roller-coaster design — developing creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving.

Portrait of a Graduate

Every seventh-grade course is built to carry students toward the same three ends.

List of 3 items.

Purposeful

in investigating responsibly and using new tools with integrity.
Confident

in building a structured argument and presenting who they are.
Discerning

in judging credibility and holding competing viewpoints at once.

Middle School Curriculum

The Academic Program: Courses This Year

List of 8 items.

English

Seventh grade English uses diverse protagonists and perspectives to deepen students’ understanding of the human experience. Students reflect on their own family history and culture as they analyze the lives of others, building empathy and self-awareness. Sentence mechanics and diagramming give students precise control over their communication, and the formal five-paragraph analysis sharpens their argument. A multi-modal Expression of Self project lets students choose their medium and present their identity with confidence.
Mathematics (Pre-Algebra or Algebra I)

Pre-Algebra and Algebra I formalize abstract reasoning. Students master the integer system, solve multi-step equations through inverse operations, and graph linear equations while analyzing slope as a rate of change. They interpret statistical displays such as histograms and box-and-whisker plots. Choosing how to present their solutions, students learn to model real situations and to evaluate whether an answer is reasonable.
Science

Seventh grade science pairs physical chemistry with the physics of motion. Students investigate states of matter, density, atomic structure, and chemical compounds through quantitative experiments. They analyze motion with distance-time graphs and linear vectors and learn to calculate forces. Directing peer lab groups and translating real situations into equations, students grow into confident, precise scientific thinkers.
Social Studies

Students study the development of the nation through the lens of competing perspectives. They examine the tension between federal authority and states’ or individual rights, trace the evolving definition of citizenship, and study the long struggle for civil rights. Geography and economic reasoning explain how the land shaped regional ways of life and labor. Managing a multi-step collaborative project, students connect historic struggles to questions of equity today.
AI & Research (NEW)

Every seventh grader takes AI & Research, a new required course in how to investigate responsibly. Students build information literacy, navigating sources and databases and judging credibility, bias, and relevance. They learn to use intelligent tools thoughtfully, ethically, and transparently, treating technology as an aid to thinking rather than a substitute for it. Pursuing questions that genuinely matter to them, students learn to defend a line of inquiry and to separate credible evidence from noise.
World Language (Spanish)

Seventh grade Spanish compares students’ lives with those of peers in Spanish-speaking countries, their school days, hobbies, and routines. Students study landmarks, capitals, and traditions and present travel research to the class. They learn to choose between formal usted and informal tú, a matter of cultural sensitivity as much as grammar. Noun-adjective agreement adds precision, helping students read and speak for meaning and nuance.
Fine Arts

Seventh grade fine arts mature observation into perspective, theme, and a shared critical language. Students work with grid enlargement, contour, and perspective in the studio and develop vocal production and improvisation on the stage. Formal terminology anchors structured class critiques, so feedback is specific and useful. Gallery study connects student work to its historical and cultural context, building discerning, articulate artists.
Physical Education

Seventh grade physical education sharpens tactics and self-knowledge. Students apply advanced strategy across sports such as ultimate frisbee, soccer, and basketball, and they take on peer leadership roles in the warm-up. Sustained personal-fitness progress remains a year-long goal. Students learn to analyze their own strengths and weaknesses and to build genuine bonds through team challenges.