The Crossroads School

Write a Review410-276-4924

CLOSED NOW - Opens at 8:30am

Crossroads School strives to be a vibrant community of learners committed to opening minds, opening worlds and opening possibilities through discovery and diversity. We aim to create a middle school that draws students, teachers, and parents together in the pursuit of high standards of academic achievement, character, conduct, and service to the community.New BasicsThe curriculum of Crossroads School focuses upon the New Basics of a 21st century education by combining rigorous instruction in the fundamentals with hands-on, interdisciplinary projects. In addition to reading, writing and math, we consider technology, cooperative learning, critical thinking and the real-world application of knowledge to be fundamental basics of an educated person.Our school is a school where students and families choose to attend and where teachers choose to teach. Crossroads School is founded on the notion that students and families need choices in public education. This commitment to choice extends to the curriculum as well. Where appropriate, efforts will be made to provide students with substantive choices regarding their own educational program.The structure of Crossroads School is designed to allow the support and flexibility needed to help all students achieve at their highest possible level. The daily schedule includes three two-hour blocks of time. The first of these is dedicated to providing direct instruction to students regarding the fundamental skills of reading, writing and math. The remaining two periods are interdisciplinary in organization: one is devoted to instruction in the humanities and the other is devoted to math and science. The content presented in these sessions will be thematically linked in order to help students make connections between different disciplines. These interdisciplinary blocks revolve around in-depth projects that offer students the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge they are developing in the morning to a range of real-world, community-based issues.By maintaining a small size Crossroads School hopes to foster individual development and growth within all of our students through the forging of meaningful relationships between teachers, students and content. Crossroads School will strive to ensure that the ratio of teachers to students never exceeds 1: 25. Our total enrollment goal for grades 6, 7 and 8 is 150 students.Crossroads School is working with the nationally recognized organization Outward Bound in the creation of instructional program. This curriculum model, known as Expeditionary Learning, is designed around long-term, in-depth investigations of a topic that engage students through authentic projects, fieldwork and service learning. The work students do within learning expeditions centers on rigorous academic achievement, critical thinking, essential skills and habits, personal development and high quality original work.The founders of Crossroads School believe that diversity is an essential source of strength within learning communities. Therefore, our school implements an integrated, multicultural curriculum that presents students with diverse viewpoints, histories, and perspectives. Additionally, school practices full inclusion of special education students in the regular classroom, meeting their needs through small group instruction, individualized tutoring, and direct services by specialists.The Crossroads School assessment is authentic and ongoing. In our school assessment is a means of answering the essential question "Are we there yet?" Seen as a valuable tool for enhancing student achievement, assessment takes many forms including portfolio development, student reflection, peer review and presentations before discerning audiences. Integrated performance-based assessments are developed and administered quarterly in all three grades. These tests enable parents, teachers and students to monitor progress and identify areas in need of attention.Crossroads School is committed to t