Nurturing Middle School Engagement and Social-Emotional Growth at TCPS
8th Grade history students at TCPS learning about early navigational tools and techniques used by the early explorers in U.S. History. They constructed their own devices and tested them out.
The middle school years are transformative—a time when students discover who they are while developing the skills they'll need for high school and more. At TCPS, our independent K-8 school embraces the unique characteristics of our 6th through 8th grade learners, creating an environment where curiosity thrives and confidence grows.
Reflections from our alumni help us see the ongoing success in our mission and approach with middle schoolers. “TCPS was a place where I always felt seen and accepted. I always felt encouraged. And, always challenged. I learned so much and grew so much at TCPS. Most importantly, my love for learning first developed at TCPS – a solid sense of curiosity, a respect for the importance of critical thinking, and endless opportunities to express my creativity.” M.J., TCPS Alumnus
This confidence doesn't happen by accident. It's the result of three years in our small middle school classes where students have the space to practice, fail, learn, and grow with teachers who work with them closely for three years, who know them deeply and support their development every step of the way.
Understanding Middle School Learners
Middle school students are remarkable in their complexity. They're developing abstract thinking skills, questioning authority, and navigating the delicate balance between independence and belonging. As educational expert Mark Pennington notes, these learners are "curious and willing to learn things they consider useful" while being "focused on themselves and how they are perceived by their peers."
At TCPS, we see this developmental stage not as a challenge to overcome, but as an opportunity to harness. Our students surprise us daily with their depth of knowledge and genuine excitement for learning—especially when we meet them where they are. This is a commonly used phrase, but what exactly does it mean in practice every day at school?
The Progressive Education Advantage: Hands-On Learning And Meaningful Interactions Leading to School-Life Balance
TCPS follows a progressive education model that prioritizes experiential, student-centered learning over traditional rote memorization. This approach recognizes that middle school students learn best when they're actively engaged with material that connects to their lives and interests. Our Middle School faculty work together as a collaborative team, planning how their subjects and units connect, and managing the workload to keep it at an appropriate level for our young adolescents. We believe in balance - school-life balance for students. Work should be meaningful and managed - not on overload.
In our small independent school setting, progressive education means rather than memorizing facts, our students discover, question, discuss, and apply knowledge in meaningful conversations with one another and their teachers. Rather than passively receiving information, our middle schoolers are active and engaged participants in their own education through:
Project-based learning that tackles real-world problems and challenges
Hands-on exploration in science labs, creative projects, and collaborative work
Critical thinking exercises that encourage students to form and defend their own conclusions
Cross-curricular connections that help students see how subjects interconnect
Student voice and choice in how they demonstrate learning
This progressive approach is particularly powerful for middle school learners because it honors their growing intellectual capacity while respecting their need for active, engaging education. Our students don't just learn the what—they understand the why, learn to discuss their strategies with one another, and develop the skills to figure out the how so they can replicate it in the future.
The Power of Social-Emotional Learning
Social-emotional growth during these crucial middle school years focuses on helping students develop:
Self-awareness and emotional regulation
Empathy and relationship skills
Responsible decision-making abilities
Resilience when facing challenges
Leadership skills that prepare them for high school success
These skills are woven throughout our academic curriculum, helping students navigate peer relationships, assert healthy independence, and build the confidence they'll need as they transition to high school.
As parents nurture their students at home, teachers work with and care for students during the school day helping them understand how their academic and social interactions engage their developing emotional intelligence. These are crucial years when teachers and parents work hand-in-hand, communicating regularly. This synergy between home and school is crucial to both the academic and social learning of each child.
Small Class Sizes: The Foundation of Engaged Learning
One of the most powerful advantages of our independent school is our commitment to small class sizes. In middle school, when students are at their most self-conscious and socially aware, small classes create a safe space for risk-taking and authentic learning.
With fewer students in each classroom, our teachers can:
Truly know each learner—understanding their strengths, challenges, learning styles, and what motivates them
Provide individualized attention and differentiated instruction that meets each student exactly where they are
Create a safe environment where students feel comfortable asking questions, making mistakes, and trying new approaches
Foster deep discussions where every voice can be heard and valued
Build genuine relationships that support both academic and social-emotional growth
Identify and address challenges early before they become obstacles to success
In our small middle school classes, no student can hide in the back of the room. Every child is seen, known, and supported. This intimate learning environment is essential for fostering the growth mindset we prioritize—students learn that mistakes aren't failures but opportunities for learning and improvement.
The TCPS Advantage: Looping and Deep Relationships
One of our greatest strengths as a private K-8 school is our looping model, where students grow with the same dedicated teachers over multiple years. This continuity allows our educators to truly know each child—understanding what ignites their passion for learning and recognizing when they need extra support or challenge.
Research shows that one of the most powerful opportunities for success is the chance to learn with teachers who know you, who work with a student as they develop over multiple years, rather than passing them along to new teachers who may take weeks or months to get to know how to work best with a student. Looping is an approach TCPS has used for decades, and this New York Times piece helped us truly understand the benefits we see in our students. Recounts the author, Dr. Adam Grant, "With more time to get to know each student personally, teachers … have more opportunities to tailor their instructional and emotional support to help all the students in the class reach their potential."
Put into practice at our independent school, we have seen this year after year as our students mature in skills and social-emotional growth along with challenging academics from 6th through 8th grade.
Our middle school faculty work as a team to develop a keen sense of each student's learning style, interests, and potential pitfalls. This deep knowledge enables them to create engaging, real-world learning experiences that capture student attention and lead to remarkable discoveries in math, English and Language Arts, history, science, Spanish, plus enrichments like arts and research.
Engaging Learning That Inspires
While we recognize that not every learning task can be entertaining, we strive to make education engaging whenever possible. Our middle school students tackle real-world problems, participate in hands-on projects, and explore topics that connect to their interests and experiences.
Whether it's a science experiment that brings abstract concepts to life or a history project that connects past events to current issues, we design learning experiences that respect our students' growing intellectual capacity while honoring their need for active, collaborative learning. Even in middle school, movement is important, too! Students move about the class as needed and can engage other students in creative project design.
Learning to take exams and write well-crafted essays is important as well for a truly well-rounded educational outcome. Whether it's writing literary analysis in English class or analyzing the characteristics of ancient African trade routes to create their own trade journal to illustrate historical attributes, all of our lessons have creative elements intertwined to help keep students engaged while developing critical thinking skills.
In pre-algebra and algebra, students are challenged to think beyond the problem and develop their own reasoning to explain mathematical constructs.
In Spanish class, students extend their vocabulary acquisition and take field trips to order lunch at local restaurants or purchase food at a Mexican market to practice their developing conversational skills.
In the science lab, students learn to write comprehensive unit books to show what they've learned and prepare for exams as well as detailed lab reports to analyze experiments.
Preparing for High School Success
As our 8th graders prepare for high school, we focus on building the academic skills, social confidence, and emotional resilience they'll need to thrive. Developed as a complete three-year programmatic arc, these crucial middle school years at TCPS create a foundation of self-knowledge, intellectual curiosity, and community connection that serves our graduates well in their next academic adventures.
We proactively teach students how to advocate for themselves in our safe environment. Students need to know how to approach a teacher when they get to high school—for example, are they more comfortable approaching a teacher after class, during office hours, or writing a well-crafted email? Any method can work if done consistently to ask questions and get to know what the teacher is looking for in a good student.
Similarly, learning to collaborate with peers in the class, or lead a project, is crucial to rise to success in the high school environment. We don't just teach those skills in middle school—we encourage students to dig deeper, to try them out and learn to be comfortable with new things.
“TCPS is a place where teachers and students are guided by heart and curiosity. I like being able to slow down when there is a burning curiosity on the part of the student (or me as their teacher) and try different ways to make the information sink in and resonate. This is the case not just with curriculum, but also with interactions amongst the students and staff. We can take time to see the meaning in daily interactions.” Liza Clifton, Middle School History Teacher
Alumni Successes: Real Results from Our Middle School Program
Every year, TCPS alumni return, sharing stories of successes they encounter in high school, whether they attend elite San Diego independent high schools, or highly rated public schools. They're consistently surprised by how their new high school peers are not as comfortable as they are approaching teachers, asking for help, or leading projects with peers, some of the pillars of success in school.
“What we as parents later realized we kind of took for granted at the time… the kids’ ability to whip out presentations, lead others, give of themselves to their community; these are all skills they learned and practiced at TCPS that they carried with them into their next schools - high school and now in college. Thank you to TCPS for instilling these skills into our children!” TCPS Parent Alumni
A Win-Win Environment for Growth
The question isn't whether our middle schoolers are challenging us or we're challenging them—it's both, and that's exactly as it should be. This dynamic creates a win-win environment where students push boundaries, discover their capabilities, and develop the tools they need for lifelong learning. Middle school can be a challenging time to be a teacher—as well as the most rewarding!
At TCPS, we don't just teach middle school students—we celebrate them, guide them, and watch with pride as they grow into confident, thoughtful young people ready to make their mark on the world.
Schuyler Rainey Twyman
Director of Enrollment and Marketing
Ready to learn more about how our small, independent K-8 school can support your middle schooler's growth? Learn more about our comprehensive middle school program or visit our blog for more insights into progressive education and student success.
Keywords: independent middle school, private K-8 school, small class sizes, progressive education, middle school San Diego, looping model, social-emotional learning, personalized learning, hands-on education, student-centered learning