Middle School Division
5th - 8th Grades
Middle School at LCCDS consists of 5th through 8th grades. LCCDS offers a challenging curriculum encouraging our students to become lifelong learners. Our Middle School curriculum is designed to meet the individual levels of each student while developing confident, lifelong learners.
LCCDS encourages students to become creative, knowledgeable, and responsible digital citizens. In the Middle School, students use Chromebooks and Google Classroom to communicate and collaborate with teachers and other students. Online textbooks are available should students prefer these to a hard copy. A variety of apps are also available to support study skills, research, and enrichment.
Middle School Academics
In Language Arts LCCDS offers a balanced literacy program with equal emphasis on reading and writing. The goal of our Language Arts program is to develop lifelong readers and writers. Through the study of quality literature in a variety of genres, students gain a deepening understanding of the reading and writing process. Students express their ideas through journals, writing assignments, projects, collaborations, and discussions. As they move through the middle school years, there is an increasing emphasis on the advanced skills of synthesis and analytical thinking. As part of our balanced literacy program in middle school, the Language Lab allows students to continue the development of their grammar, vocabulary, and oral communication skills. Upper middle school offers an honors-level class in addition to the traditional Language Arts class for students who both excel and with teacher recommendation. LCCDS honors classes are demanding and designed to promote higher levels of thinking and understanding.
In Mathematics, the foundation students have received in elementary school has prepared the students for the rigor of the 5th and 6th grade curriculum. The emphasis of this program is conceptual understanding, application, and procedural fluency. The fifth and sixth grade curriculum prepares students for the transition into Prealgebra in 7th grade. In 8th grade students move into Algebra, or for those who excel and with teacher's recommendation, to Algebra 1 Honors. LCCDS honors classes are demanding and designed to promote higher levels of thinking and understanding.
The Science curriculum integrates Earth/Space Science, Life Science, and Physical Science each year in middle school. The goal of our curriculum is to develop students’ inquiring minds and encourage curiosity about science and the natural world. Students develop the skills of scientific inquiry through experiments and investigations. They are encouraged to think analytically, critically, and creatively, acquiring knowledge and conceptual understanding to solve problems and draw conclusions.
In Middle School Social Studies, fifth grade studies 20th Century History, followed by Ancient Civilizations in 6th grade. In 7th grade, students study World Geography and Economics. American History and Civics are taught in 8th grade. Through this curriculum, our middle school students learn to make connections between the past and the present while also learning to integrate ideas, develop social understanding, and think critically. The curriculum centers around building enduring understandings, essential questions, and social responsibility through project-based learning.
In Middle School, 5th and 6th grade, Spanish prepares students to move more fully into emersion Spanish. When students reach upper middle school, Spanish is taught as a total emersion class. Students build skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing in addition to studying different Hispanic cultures. They learn through active engagement, songs, novels, and cultural projects. Spanish 1 is taught over the 7th and 8th grade years. At the end of 8th grade, students have completed the Spanish 1 requirement for high school and are awarded Spanish 1 High School Credit on their LCCDS transcripts. Spanish Honors are offered in 8th grade to those who excel and are ready for a greater challenge.
Our core academic curriculum, enhanced with the following classes, ensures a well-rounded educational experience for our students.
The High School Placement
LCCDS offers curriculum which meets the requirements for entry into the Pinellas County School’s Magnet High School programs, including the International Baccalaureate, the Center for Advanced Technology, and the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education. LCCDS assists students and their families through the high school placement process, whether it be a public or private school.
