Middle School at Wheeler
A lot changes for students while they are “in the middle” of childhood and adolescence.
During that time, Wheeler helps each student build academic skill sets and curiosity to create a foundation for high school.
Parallel to academics, we understand adolescents want answers to their questions about themselves, the world and their place in it. And in ways that are safe for risk-taking and growth.
Our Goal
Success in the twin pursuits of academic and individual growth during the Middle School years (Grades 6-8) comes down to students expressing their curiosity, asking great questions, and then figuring out the ways to find the answers. These keys to success for adolescents are also the keys to preparation for high school and for lifelong learning; they may not realize it yet! Wheeler also recognizes that—in our rapidly changing times—the definition of a “classroom” is evolving. Today’s classrooms are now centers of collaboration, design, imagination, and production.
Our Faculty
The organization and temperament of our Middle School faculty ensure that we get to know our students. Advisors meet with their student groups daily and often more than once a day. Because much of each school day is spent with students in class, advisor periods, field trips, lunch, recess and at times on athletic teams, Wheeler teachers learn much about your student’s individual, social, and academic life. Advisors are organized into grade-level faculty teams and meet weekly to discuss, among other things, the academic as well as the social-emotional progress of your child.
Our Curriculum
Besides getting to know their students well, teachers also design rich, innovative curricula and programs in the humanities, STEM, and arts to tap into a student’s natural curiosity, need to learn something relevant and the desire to direct her/his/their own learning. A Wheeler Middle School classroom is often productively noisy as students wrestle with a problem or design a solution. Sometimes we employ technology; other times we don’t. Sometimes we read contemporary authors; other times the classics. And, sometimes the classroom is a theater like Trinity Rep or a multi-dimensional Providence neighborhood, the Wheeler Farm, a gallery on our own campus or at the Rhode Island School of Design, or science labs either at Brown University or our own Hirsch/Alperin Design-Innovate-Build Lab. Combined with the vigorous foundation of habits of mind and heart that we foster in our daily classroom instruction, each student moves on to Upper School with an intellectual foundation for upper-level scholarship, adventures, and achievements.
To You, The Student
At Wheeler’s Middle School, we understand that you make many decisions as you progress from leaving elementary school to preparing for high school in a few short years. Our teachers help you take risks, fail (i.e., try again), and succeed in building a strong academic foundation while fostering your social and emotional growth. You are asking questions of yourself, friends, family, and the world at this time in your life. We are here to help you learn how to find the answers by finding your own strengths and styles of learning. It is somewhat cliche to talk about “finding your voice” at this stage in one’s life, but at Wheeler, we believe that it is by building confidence, empathy, resilience, and friendship that your voice can be heard.
Contact Head of Middle School Vanessa O’Driscoll
Middle School Administration
See Our Stories
It started simply: on one of their first nature walks of the year, Pre-K’s Peaceful Pines began collecting hickory nuts and acorns along the way 🌰. Their excitement and curiosity about their finds quickly grew into a month-long exploration filled with investigation, discovery, and learning.
First, they looked closely at the hickory nuts and acorns, comparing and contrasting them and documenting their observations with a Venn diagram. From there, students cracked them open to investigate what was inside, created detailed observational drawings, and made predictions before testing whether they would sink or float.
The learning continued as students explored the question 🔍, “How many hickory nuts are in this jar?” In attemping to answer it, they practiced estimation, rote counting, one-to-one correspondence, and numeral recognition. As their collection grew, they returned to another question: “How many are there now?” They also used the nuts, acorns, and other natural materials to build sets along a number line, matching quantities to their corresponding numerals.
“What began with a few treasures discovered on the trail naturally wove its way through science, math, and art, and continued to evolve as the children discovered more and asked new questions,” shared Nest Teacher Meaghan Daniels. “This is what we love about emergent learning in early childhood: children’s curiosity provides the spark, and intentional teaching helps us discover just how far that curiosity can take us.” 💡🌲
Sep 28
Happy Sunday, Wheeler – We hope you’re faring OK in the nor’easter. The storm will slowly be moving away as we start a new week of programs, events, and activities at school, including an exciting slate of Friday Night Lights games at the farm on Oct. 2.
Thank you to Field Hockey Co-Captains Violet A. ’27 and Cyra K. ’27 for sharing more information about their matchup with Dana Hall, and good luck to them and the rest of their teammates, including fellow Co-Captain Lily B. ’27 who was unable to join for the recording, this Friday and throughout their fall season.
Here’s some more of what’s happening at Wheeler this week:
TUESDAY:
– Nest Back to School Night
WEDNESDAY:
– Parent and Guardian Learning Differences Coffee
– Wheeler Family Association (WFA) Presents: Meet-Up and Walk for Parents and Guardians
– WFA Presents: Homecoming Committee Planning Meeting (Virtual)
THURSDAY:
– WFA Presents: Clothing Sale Donation Day
FRIDAY:
– Wheeler Athletics Presents Friday Night Lights, featuring Varsity Field Hockey and Varsity Girls Soccer, both at 4:30pm at Wheeler Farm
SATURDAY:
– SAT Test Date
– Popsicles on the Playground for Prospective K-5 Families, from 10-11:30am on our Providence campus.
You can see more information about these events in the most recent e-newsletter or in the Parent and Guardian Portal calendar.
Have a great week everyone, and stay safe and dry as we weather the rest of the storm. ☔️
Sep 27
We’re honored to once again be at the top of numerous categories in this year’s Niche.com rankings(!), and we’re just as proud to celebrate the Wheeler community, whose care and curiosity are at the heart of these numbers. We’re grateful for you.
If you’d like to learn more about Wheeler, please join us at our Oct. 17 K-12 Open House or our Nov. 14 Nursery-PreK Open House. You’ll have the opportunity to meet faculty, students, staff, and current families, and experience some of what makes Wheeler such a great school. Visit wheelerschool.org/events to register.
Sep 25
“It was spur of the moment,” said Kindergarten Assistant Caleb Bento, describing a spontaneous team-building activity he recently led with the Squirrels in the Kindergarten Canyon. “Asking them to create a path meant they would need to communicate with each other while breaking the boundaries of friendship. It was a great way to mold their teamwork skills.” ✨🟦🐿️
Sep 25
