Middle School

We want all Holy Nativity Episcopal School language arts students to be critical thinkers and readers as well as effective communicators and writers.  The coursework focuses on all aspects of language arts including vocabulary, grammar, writing, speaking, listening, reading, and presenting. Courses are designed to engage students in relevant material and allow them to develop their own knowledge and understanding of literature and the broader world. Each grade is sequential and builds upon prior knowledge with certain skills being mastered at each grade level, allowing students to progress appropriately within grammar mechanics and vocabulary structure in middle grades in preparation for complex high school standards.

Students are expected to analyze, evaluate, and criticize literature with appreciation for poetry, nonfiction, short stories, and dramatic plays. Simultaneously, students choose their own independent novel to read in conjunction with classroom novel studies with specific focuses on realistic fiction, historical fiction, and dystopian literature. By the end of the year, all students should be able to compose a well-developed five paragraph essay illustrating the mastery of their affiliated grade level language arts structure and mechanics. This is accomplished throughout the year with a variety of essays, projects, tests, and project-based assignments.

We use the following curriculum to enhance student learning: Wordly Wise 3000, Scope Scholastic Magazine, EBAcademics, IXL, and novel studies. 

PATRIOT'S PEN

Annually, middle school students participate in a VFW-sponsored youth essay competition which gives students an opportunity to write essays expressing their views on an annual patriotic theme. Past themes have been “How are you inspired by America” and “What does America mean to you”. Prizes are awarded at the local, state and national levels.

HNES works closely with our local VFW Post#10555 to facilitate this essay contest.

Winners at the POST level 2024:

1st place: Andrew Nowak (8th grade)

2nd place: JJ Brown (8th grade)

3rd place: Finn Oenbrink (8th grade)

4th place: Devin Jani (7th grade)

5th place: Sydney Fuller (7th grade)

Winners at the REGIONAL level 2024:

1st place: Sydney (advances to the STATE essay competition)

2nd place: Andrew

3rd place: Finn

WELLER SCHOLAR ESSAY

The Weller Scholar is an honor awarded by the Board of Trustees of Holy Nativity Episcopal School to recognize a graduating 8th grade student who has demonstrated outstanding character, high academic progress, and a strong devotion to the mission of our school. 

Named for Father Tom Weller and his wife Linda Peters Weller, this award is presented annually to celebrate the lifetime contributions of the Wellers to our school and our community. Father Tom was a student at Cove School (8th grade class of 1949) and he and Mrs. Weller are charter members of the Holy Nativity Episcopal School Foundation. (The Foundation was responsible for acquiring the Cove School campus in 1998 for HNES and restoring her to the building she is today.) Mrs. Weller and her mother Lucile Peters Graham, established a very generous trust to pay off the construction loans and annual mortgage fees for the Foundation. In addition, Father Tom has served as HNES school chaplain, and middle school Religion teacher (2004- 2007). 

Father Tom has always instructed his students with just two rules, “Love God and love your neighbor.”

“Math is fun and good!”
The math department at Holy Nativity Episcopal School Middle School believes and practices this motto every day.

The HNES Math program is designed to encourage students to challenge themselves to meet their full potential. The primary goal is to teach critical math skills while encouraging a love of learning and inspiring academic curiosity. To this end, students do more than manipulate numbers. They are asked to talk about, write about and think about math and how it serves them. As students are stretched to their highest potential, we raise their level of responsibility and independence. Unlike traditional classrooms, students at HNES are placed in a math class based on their math skill level rather than solely by their grade level. We take advantage of the flexibility of our scheduling to allow for advanced students to be placed in whichever math class best fits their math aptitude now. Our history shows that students in HNES Middle School are not only prepared for the next academic level, but they also continue to enjoy and excel in their math achievement.

HNES is happy to have two trained, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic math teachers in our middle school. Our teachers love math and know the importance of it in today’s high-tech society. All teachers desire the maximum development of each student and therefore focus on individual needs and appropriate challenges. The classroom set up allows for both individual and group work for real-life problem-solving and “brainstorming.” The mathematics lessons are sequential and build on prior learning. Homework is sufficient, consistent, and is used to reinforce class instruction.

In Middle School, Midterm and Final Exams are given on each academic subject. This practice has proven effective at confirming students' progress as well as preparing them for any future exams they take. Additionally, all middle school students take the AP Readi-Step Test annually. Written by the College Board, Readi-Step evaluates school curriculum and student advancement in preparation for future college placement.

Middle school students in Florida now take End of Course Exams (EOC) to obtain high school credit for certain subjects. Holy Nativity students who take Algebra I and/or Geometry I also sit for this exam at the Bay District School's testing facility. To date, all HNES students have passed these exams with some of the highest scores in our county!

In addition to daily math courses, HNES offers two additional math electives to allow for more math instruction time during the school day: MathCounts and Introduction to Geometry.   Introduction to Geometry is a twice a week foundational course for all students in 7th grade.

MATHCOUNTS

MathCounts is a national math competition program that rewards “mathletes” for their diligence and math passion.

Our Holy Nativity MathCounts Team consistently finishes among the Top Three schools in our Region.

HNES Mathletes who have advanced to the STATE level include: 2003 - Michael Warkander, Kirstyn Palgut, Corey Thorpe, Elaura Hodgetts, Katherine Whitton; 2010 - Connor Morrow; 2015 - Jackson Morris; 2016 - Jackson Morris, Danielle Bansagi; 2021 - Jordan Tackett; 2022 - Alexander Stewart

The MathCounts emphasis is on math success, but the theme is always "math is fun and good." 

In middle school science, each grade level concentrates on a specific area of science.  Hands-on labs and an emphasis on real-world applications help students develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the discipline.  It’s truly our goal to have students love science!

Sixth grade students explore topics related to Earth and Space Science. These include astronomy, geology, meteorology, and oceanography.

Life Science is the focus for our seventh graders. They also participate in an Invention Convention, devising an original invention to solve a real-world problem.  During the invention process, students conduct research, construct a prototype, and develop a marketing plan.  Our students have such creative ideas, and their projects are amazing!  A school-level Convention is held and selected projects will proceed to the district level.  This year, all HNES projects sent to the district level placed in their respective categories, and five of the seven projects were selected to advance to the national competition.

Our 8th graders delve into Physical Science, emphasizing both physics and chemistry. This class is taught at a level equivalent to a high school Honors Physical Science class, and students have the opportunity to earn high school credit by successfully completing this HNES course.  Hands-on activities abound in the 8th grade science classroom, causing the very abstract ideas of physical science to become more concrete.

In addition to the core science curriculum, our robotics program offers yet another challenging and thoroughly engaging STEM opportunity.  Working in partnership with FIRST® LEGO® League, participating students construct a robotics challenge course and program a robot to complete different missions related to this year’s theme.  Additionally, the team originates an innovation project that would help to solve a problem in the community.  Throughout the competitions, core values exhibited by the team are observed, and these observations impact final rankings.  Our current team was the recipient of the top award at our qualifying tournament and recently competed at a regional tournament.  We are anxiously awaiting those results to see if we will secure one of the eight bids to continue to the state level competition.  Go, Robo-Bolts!

While not all students plan to pursue STEM careers, it is important that ALL students are able to apply scientific reasoning and critical thinking. These abilities inform personal decisions and help individuals meet the demands of a technologically advanced world.  It has been observed that, “Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.”  At Holy Nativity Episcopal School, our middle school science program helps students develop these scientific thought processes, preparing them for continued success in high school, college, and the world of the future.

ROBO-BOLTS

INVENTION CONVENTION

To enrich the social studies curriculum, Holy Nativity Episcopal School added History Alive! for 6th grade Ancient History and Government Alive! to teach Civics, Geography and Economics to 7th graders. These researched-based active methods of teaching have transformed these two subjects into multifaceted learning experiences.

World History is a year-long 6th grade course including hands-on projects such as excavating Terra Cotta Warriors as well as utilizing our Chromebooks to take a tour of Ancient Rome. All 6th graders are required to complete a History Fair Project.

The 7th grade social studies curriculum in the state of Florida includes a semester of geography, nine weeks of economics and nine weeks of civics. Government Alive! helps bring learning alive in these sometimes challenging-to-engage areas of study. With the ability to engage students with a variety of learning styles with this active instruction, the students work in groups, learning graphic note taking and enjoying step by step discovery of the subject matter—and loving it!

Early American History is the basis of 8th grade social studies. Annually, our 8th grade students, and many of their parents, travel to Washington DC and New York City for what has become an HNES tradition, the 8th grade trip. In class, working both independently and collaboratively, in a dynamic classroom environment, students analyze compelling primary source documents and build integrated literacy skills that will directly impact  understanding and performance.

Those skills include:

• Writing based on textual evidence
• Developing vocabulary
• Analyzing documents and graphic materials
• Unlocking primary source documents through scaffolded shared-reading strategies
• Attain a better understanding of complex primary sources through text-based questioning
• Studying literature and multimedia elements integrated into social studies content

HISTORY FAIR

MIDDLE SCHOOL GENERAL ELECTIVES

Each semester many electives are offered to HNES middle school students, providing a path for each student to discover or enhance interests, talents, social skills and leadership abilities.

Examples of electives which are offered:  

• Art
• Yoga
• SGA
• Service Club
• Body Conditioning
• Cooking
• Robotics
• Photography
• Technology
• Tennis
• Pickleball
• Math Team
• Yearbook
• Photography
• Directed Study
• Theater Arts - Musical and Costume & Design
• Board Games
• Life Skills
• Coding
• Video Production
• Book Club

(These electives vary per semester)

REQUIRED 5TH AND 6TH PERIOD CLASSES

RELIGION
All middle school students at Holy Nativity Episcopal School have a required religion course one day per week, taught by our school chaplain, Fr. Steve Bates, of Holy Nativity Episcopal Church. The classes are designed to strengthen the six traits of success: leadership, scholarship, citizenship, fellowship, character, and faith. Students have weekly prayer partners, discuss portions of the Bible, hold conversations on age appropriate topics like bullying, and being a good friend, and occasionally watch videos related to character development and decision-making.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Each middle school grade takes part in a once a week physical education class.  A variety of team and individual sports will be explored throughout the year, with an emphasis on lifelong fitness.  Students also have the opportunity to sign up for additional physically active electives.

READING
Helping with the greater reading demands and responsibility required of our middle school students, our 6th grade reading classes provide the perfect level of support.  During this class, students will improve their critical reading and organization skills.

INVENTION CONVENTION
All 7th grade students at HNES will participate in Invention Convention.  Invention Convention teachers students problem-identification, problem-solving, creativity, and entrepreneurship as they devise an invention.  This class period will provide students with extra work time and resources to assist them with the development of their projects.

HISTORY FAIR
All 8th grade students at HNES will participate in History Fair.  Students will engage in creative writing, critical thinking, and research as they develop their project.  This class period provides extra time and resources to assist them with the development of their projects.

GEOMETRY
Our 7th and 8th grade students will take part in a once a week Geometry enrichment class.  This class emphasizes hands-on, discovery methods to develop a deeper understanding of geometric concepts.  This class acts as a helpful supplement to those students taking Honors Geometry and provides a valuable foundation to those who will go on to take Geometry in the future.

DIRECTED STUDY
A brief directed study period will be provided opposite the Religion Class.  This is a time during which students can work on assignments, study, or read.  All students should bring work to be completed during this time.