We guide middle school students in learning to think beyond themselves.
We prioritize giving middle school students their own programs, their own times, and their own spaces that are designed just for them. But one of the great benefits of CCA is that middle school students are also actively involved in the life of the larger K-12 school. Middle school students have the opportunity to play on competitive athletic teams, to be members of dramatic productions and jazz and string ensembles, to direct student government meetings, and organize community service activities.
Middle school students are at an age where the natural tendency to focus on the self is in conflict with considering the needs of others. We guide students in learning to think beyond themselves.
The Middle School at Cape Cod Academy emphasizes all the great things that are possible at this wonderful age if we thoughtfully address the developmental needs of students at this time in their lives.
As educators, we know that students thrive when they feel physically and emotionally secure within a caring environment.
Students annually shape the values of their advisor groups through their lens, looking inward at themselves while collaborating with fellow students in a safe, comfortable environment. Advisor groups create what we call “Social Contracts” for the school year. They then go a step further and recommended a social contract for the entire middle school to live by for the school year. Their values?
Be Respectful of others and their surroundings
Be Open-minded and listen to the ideas and the opinions of others
Be Willing to try something new
When students define the behaviors and mindsets they value, they get better at seeing them (or their absence) in their daily lives and they develop an ownership stake in exerting positive social pressure in the life of the school.
Cape Cod Academy develops students’ agency, their ownership of how they can learn and what they can do, how they can be effective, who they will become, and what they will do in life and for the world. We foster habits that compel our students to apply themselves and their skills—not just pass the TEST and get into college. CCA students want to tackle problems; they want to make a difference and succeed.
MIDDLE SCHOOL: Experimenting & testing—who am I, how do I succeed, what can I contribute?
● Self-aware
● Responsibility for yourself and your ventures
● Identity (vis-à-vis: relationships, world ambitions)
● Confidence through experience, experimenting
● Skills of relating and working with others
● Understanding of self as potential leader, contributor, and advocate
We’ve learned more in one report card than in four years at the previous school. Great attention to detail. It’s not just what our son is doing now but also what the teacher hopes to draw out of him next."
Cape Cod Academy is one of the only independent, co-educational, college preparatory schools serving students from kindergarten to grade 12 on Cape Cod.