ODA Middle School Builds Bridges

The middle is a great place to be! ODA’s Middle School is uniquely positioned to make important connections with both our Upper and Lower Schools, acting as a bridge between our youngest and most tenured students.

The Middle School’s most recent program, coordinated by Ms. Lonsdale, Mr. von Saman, and Mrs. Mann, brought our fifth graders to the Uihlein Campus to get acquainted with their future home. This day featured advisory games with sixth grade buddies, performing arts immersion, a round table experience to discover aspects of Middle School through the eyes of current sixth grade students, and a core class rotation. Over the next few months, our fifth and sixth graders will jointly embark on an academic journey in their English classes. Both groups will read the same book, write letters to one another reflecting on the book’s content, and complete a related quest on the Siesta Key Campus as a team. Our sixth grade is working hard to make our fifth graders’ transition to Middle School seamless! 

 

In eighth grade, Ms. Lloyd and Ms. Dozier teamed up to create mixers between our eighth grade and Upper School students. Every month throughout the school year, eighth graders have spent time with peers in the Upper School, previewing and preparing for the road ahead. Topics of discussion include a day-in-the-life of an Upper School student, important people and places, the newly-created House System, and an interactive preview of a House Challenge.