Middle School

There are a total of eight sports offered at the middle school level.  In the fall, the boys may play soccer, football or participate in cross country.  In the winter, basketball and hockey are available.  In spring, we offer lacrosse, baseball and tennis.  The overarching philosophy of the athletic program in the middle school is that we want 100% participation.  We encourage every boy to participate in at least two sports each year.  The only sport for which there are “cuts” is basketball.  For all of the other sports, we allow as many boys to participate as come out.  Our sports teams compete in the Greater Morris County Athletic Conference.  

At the beginning of the school year a “club fair” is held in the gymnasium.  Student and teacher representatives set up sign up tables around the perimeter of the gym.  Boys visit whichever club looks interesting to them and sign up.  There is no requirement for club/activity participation.  Any boy who has a desire to start a club that does not already exist may do so by making a proposal to the Assistant Headmaster.  Once he has the Assistant Headmaster’s approval a faculty moderator (supervisor) is sought out to provide supervision.  Clubs and activities take place after school hours.  (See Clubs and Activities).  

At the beginning of the school year the Director of Ministry & Ministry holds a Community Service Fair.  Officials from 28 different service organizations visit the school and set up presentations in classrooms throughout the building.  After a brief assembly to explain the procedure of joining a community service organization, the boys are then sent to the school to visit three different organizations’ presentations.  The boys then choose which of these they want to be involved with and they sign up.  Some of the community service projects are not open to middle schoolers because of their nature.  However, most of the organizations allow middle school participation.  (See Community Service Organizations).  Although we do not have a community service requirement, we have participation by 100% of our students each year.  

Our school year is broken down into two semesters, which break the school year in half.  The school year consists of approximately 165 school days. Visit our curriculum page to learn more about the middle school offerings.  You can filter the courses by 7th or 8th grade and by subject.

Each boy in the middle school belongs to one of 36 “Deaneries.”  The Deaneries are student led groups that meet periodically to discuss important community issues such as food drives and homecoming as well as other issues relevant to school life.  Each Deanery has a junior and a senior “Dean.”  These students lead the discussions.  The Deaneries also vie against each other throughout the year in competitions such as the Deanery Tournament (various games), food drive collection etc.  This program serves many purposes in the school community.  One major benefit for the middle school boys is that the program puts the boys in close contact with their older schoolmates.  The upperclassmen “adopt” the younger students informally and help them as needed throughout the year. 

The boys are heterogeneously grouped in the middle school.  For each of the core academic classes half of the boys are in one class (e.g. English) while the other half is in another class (e.g. History).  Thus, the average class sizes for the middle school are approximately 15-16 students per class each year.  We do not have honors or accelerated classes in the middle school.   Prior to their entry into the seventh grade we administer a mathematics test that is used to gauge the breadth of the mathematical ability across the entire group of boys.  Occasionally, we will place a seventh grader in algebra 1B based on his performance on this test.

Our middle school belongs to The Middle School Consortium of New Jersey.  This group consists of 10 member schools, both public and private.  The Consortium sponsors an annual calendar of events to promote student growth. Activities include a spelling bee, general knowledge tournament, problem solving workshop, forensic tournament, tennis, and chess tournament.

At the end of every mid-term we bring the boys together in the gymnasiums for Middle School Night Out.  The boys are broken down into six teams and compete against each other in various games such as handball, indoor soccer and dodgeball.  A team of upper classmen known as “Middle School Mentors” assist in this effort.  Each middle school boy is assigned a mentor who, in addition to helping out with the middle school nights out, also helps the middle schoolers in their adjustment to the school, with classwork when needed and also with social issues.  Mentors are drawn from the sophomore, junior and senior classes. 

There are several different ensembles for students to become involved with in the arts department.  Boys  may participate in several singing groups including Schola Cantorum as well as several instrumental groups.  Additionally, there are three opportunities a year for the students to engage in acting.  Each year there is a drama, a musical and student led one act plays.  All of the opportunities in the arts department take place after school. 

The students attend mass on several occasions during the school year.  These observances typically take place when the Catholic Church is celebrating a holy day.  The entire community, including staff and students attend these Masses in the main church building.  We do not have a daily mass.  However, Mass is celebrated weekly for students and staff who wish to participate.  These weekly observances are attended on a voluntary basis and held in a smaller chapel in the school building.  

Upon entry to seventh grade, each boy is given a Chromebook which he will use for the two years of middle school.   Most of the assignments the boys complete will be done electronically on their Chromebooks.  The teachers utilize the teaching and learning platform Schoology to deliver much of the curriculum including posting assignments, administering quizzes and maintaining grades. 

Boys in the middle school are permitted to bring their cell phones to school.  However, they have to hand them in at the beginning of the day.  When the boys transition to the upper school they have to provide their own laptop and they are permitted to have their phones on their person throughout the school day.