Middle School

Eight sports offered at the middle school level.  In the fall, the boys may play soccer, football, or run cross country.  In the winter, basketball, wrestling and hockey are available.  In spring, we offer lacrosse, baseball and tennis.  The overarching philosophy of the athletic program in the Middle School is 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 Middle School teams compete in the Greater Morris County Athletic Conference.  

On the schoolwide Orientation Day, we hold an Activities Fair.  Student and teacher representatives share their club or activity's program and take signups for participation.  Club or activity participation is not required, but is highly encouraged.  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  for Student Affairs.  Once he has the Assistant Headmaster’s approval a faculty Moderator (supervisor) is sought to provide supervision.  Clubs and activities take place during two school day Activities periods and after school.  (See Clubs and Activities).  

In mid-September, the Ministry & Ministry Office 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 usually have participation by 100% of our students each year.  

Our school year is broken down into two semesters with two quarters each, and c. 165 school days. Visit our curriculum page to learn more about the Middle School academic 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 events such as student-led 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. 

All students take two semesters of Theology annually as part of their core required classes.  The Middle School has a required off campus Day of Recollection in October, led by our student Campus Ministers.  Students and staff attend Mass together in the Abbey Church as a school community on several occasions during the school year when the Catholic Church is celebrating a holy day of obligation or on an important Benedictine feast day.  Lauds (Morning Prayer with an accompanying witness talk by a lay staff member) is prayed in the Abbey Church  by all students and staff in those months when we do not have an all-school Mass.  We also have an optional daily Mass for stduents, staff and parents celebrated at 7:30 am each school day in St. Martin Oratory, just off the Student Commons. 

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 Visual and Performing Arts Department.  Boys  may participate in the Schola Cantorum as well as several instrumental groups.  Additionally, there are three opportunities a year for the students to act on stage (the Fall Drama, the Winter Mucical and the Spring student -ed One Acts Festival).

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

Boys in the middle school are permitted to bring their cell phones to school.  However, they must turn them in at the beginning of the day to the Director of the Middle School.  When students move to 9th grade, they must provide their own laptop and they are permitted to have their phones on their persons throughout the school day.