Middle School

Delbarton's Middle School (7th and 8th grades) typically has 30-32 students per grade. Each high school grade has approximately 140 students per grade. The 7th and 8th graders are fully integrated into the school. There is no separation between the “Upper School” and the “Middle School.” Middle School students have the same daily schedule, use the same hallways and classrooms, and participate in all of the daily activities as their older schoolmates.

middle school admissions

Boys interested in enrolling in Delbarton's Middle School complete an online application, schedule an interview and sit for admissions testing. After the candidate is interviewed, his parents are then interviewed separately for approximately 20 minutes. Applicants are also required to have their English teacher, Mathematics teacher and either their current principal or their guidance counselor complete an online recommendation form which is also added to the file. On a subsequent Saturday, candidates for admission sit for a three-part admissions test. Admission testing includes the Otis Lennon School Ability Test, The Stanford Achievement Test and a free response writing assignment. For seventh grade admissions, the number of applicants varies between 60 and 100 each year.

Field Trips

7th graders begin their Delbarton experience with a white water rafting trip on the Lehigh River. Many seniors who are Lifers report that this trip is the most enjoyable experience they have had in their six years at Delbarton.

On the first Friday of the school year, the 7th graders travel to the Pocono Mountains and take a rafting adventure down the Lehigh River. The main purpose of this trip is to have the students begin to forge the bonds of brotherhood and camaraderie that will follow them throughout their six years at our school. The other two trips are more educational in nature.

The 8th graders have traditionally gone on three trips as well. In the past we have gone to Gettysburg and the 9/11 Memorial. All of the previously mentioned trips are day trips. However, at the end of the eighth grade year, the boys go on a four-day long trip to Washington D.C. and Williamsburg VA.

Mr. Rick Cimino

Director of Middle School, Middle School Guidance Counselor, History Teacher

orientation

All new Middle School students experience a one-day orientation program which takes place late in the summer before the first day of classes. The main goal of the orientation program is to begin to make the boys feel comfortable with being in a new environment with new classmates. The boys also use this time to learn how to read their schedules, find their way around campus and become oriented to the school rules and policies.

Middle School In The News

Middle School Program

Athletics

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.

Clubs and Activities

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).

Community Service

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.

Curriculum

Deaneries

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.

Faith Formation

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.

Grouping

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.

Middle School Consortium of New Jersey

Middle School Mentors Program /Night Out

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.

Music and Arts

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).

Technology

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.

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