Signature programs
Students in Middle School at Mead are engaged in several unique programs that are foundational, transformational, and particularly relevant today.
Marine Biology
Mead 6th Graders spend time at and on the ocean studying marine science and environmental stewardship.
With a first trimester emphasis on fieldwork on the Long Island Sound, a second trimester project focusing on marine mammals, and a third trimester study of hurricanes, climate change, and coastal resilience, the year ends with a four-day whale-watching trip to Cape Cod to reinforce the ecology concepts covered throughout the year.
Staging Shakespeare
Every other year, the Mead 7th and 8th Grade classes join forces to produce and perform a full work of Shakespeare.
In a perfect interdisciplinary union of Language Arts, Drama, Studio Art, and Engineering, our students design sets, prepare costumes, memorize lines and staging, act as light and sound techs, and present a thoroughly studied and lovingly performed work of "the bard." Recent productions have included Pericles Prince of Tyre, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Light and Life Experience
Imagine that you and your friends have only one week to dream up and put together a performance festival of artistic expression and ingenuity.
You must imagine and vet every element, then sketch, script, stage, rehearse, and pull it all together, while simultaneously engaging in a week of creative workshops. And finally, you will display and perform everything you have prepared for all of your friends and families.
Light and Life is a wild, wonderful, and a transformatively powerful lesson in team work, creativity, pragmatism, and the power of resilience.
Lig
The Light & Life tradition consists of two distinct parts– the daily workshops, and the evening celebration, which includes both exhibits from many of the workshops as well as on-stage performances.
The goal of the Light & Life evening is not to put on a perfect performance. It is an opportunity to embrace challenge and experience something new. It is a moment to take risks, collaborate deeply, and figure out how to 'make it work' under pressure.
Light and Life is about working with friends to pull off the seemingly impossible, and is fondly remembered by alumni as one of their most transformative experiences at Mead.
The Graduation Mastery Project
Magical, challenging, and powerful.
These words from graduating students best capture the essence of the Graduation Capstone experience. This rewarding tradition gives 8th grade students the opportunity to synthesize the different elements of their Mead education and to see for themselves how they have grown and evolved. This project is likely the most challenging process a Mead student will experience, and perhaps the most significant in its reinforcement of a sense of academic confidence and independence in our students.
Elements of the Graduation Mastery
I learned how to truly express who I am rather than pretend to be someone I am not. Alumni, Class of '06