A challenging, safe, learning environment

Our middle school program offers students in grades six through eight the opportunity to discover and develop their own voice in a collaborative community environment that promotes a tone of decency and trust. As a student, you will also learn how to become an active participant in your education through learning how to set goals, exploring content in depth, and working toward mastery in academic skills through a personalized learning environment.

Beyond the classroom, students connect to the outdoors through various outdoor education and placed-based learning initiatives, including an outdoor orientation trip, local hikes with Middle School classmates, and a winter snowshoe overnight to one of the 10th Mountain Division huts.

Sixth Grade

As a sixth grader at The Peak School, you spend the year learning how to be an active participant in your education, developing tools for self-advocation, and discovering what learning at The Peak School means. Along the way, teachers focus on helping you embrace the transition from elementary school to middle school in a caring, safe, supportive community. Sixth graders can expect:

  • Six core courses: World Cultures and Geography, Earth Science, your level of mathematics, your choice of an elective, your choice of a world language—Spanish, Chinese, or an independent study, and Middle School Lab—an interdisciplinary, experiential course for all middle schoolers.
  • Access to Summit Middle School athletic teams
  • A three-day, two-night outdoor education trip with your sixth grade class

Seventh Grade

Your seventh grade year at The Peak School focuses on building upon the foundational self-awareness and metacognition skills that you begin to explore in the sixth grade. Seventh graders are also paired with the eighth graders in many of their core courses, which challenges them academically and fosters the close community we value at The Peak School.

  • Six core courses: humanities (The United States by the Decades or Human Behavior and Social Change); STEM (Life Science or Physical Science); your level of mathematics, your choice of an elective, your choice of a world language—Spanish, Chinese, or an independent study, and Middle School Lab—an interdisciplinary, experiential course for all middle schoolers.
  • Access to Summit Middle School athletic teams
  • A three-day, two-night outdoor education trip to the 10th Mountain division huts with the seventh and eighth grade classes

Eighth Grade

As you matriculate into the eighth grade at The Peak School, you are expected to not only demonstrate skills of learning at a higher level, but also exhibit behavior indicative of your role as a leader in the middle school program. In the second half of the year, you will focus on a Gateway capstone project that demonstrates your understanding of the skills that you developed over your middle school years.

  • Six core courses: humanities (The United States by the Decades or Human Behavior and Social Change); STEM (Life Science or Physical Science); your level of mathematics, your choice of an elective, your choice of a world language—Spanish, Chinese, or an independent study, and Middle School Lab—an interdisciplinary, experiential course for all middle schoolers. During the Third Quarter, 8th grade students take Sexual Education as their elective. Students will learn information about a range of sexual health and relationships topics through activities, discussions, and personal reflection.
  • Access to Summit Middle School athletic teams
  • A three-day, two-night outdoor education trip to the 10th Mountain division huts with the seventh and eighth grade classes
  • A shadow day of a ninth grade student in the spring