Chapel
The Chapel service is integral to a St. Margaret’s education. Our Episcopal tradition guides that regular participation in communal worship is the key to making individual spirituality blossom. Bringing our expansive diversity of backgrounds from each child into one unified presence in Chapel embraces our differences and creates the habits of prayer, compassion and devotion that are the foundations of worship to all views of a higher power we call God. Students are encouraged to participate in Chapel services in a variety of roles, including acolytes, readers, Eucharistic ministers and speakers. The Middle School attends Chapel services two times a week.
Deans
The structure of leadership in the Middle School provides for two deans at each grade level. These grade-level deans play a large role in the culture and communication for their respective grade levels. They organize and run class meetings, help with the cadence and events of advisory meetings, communicate regularly with teachers and students, and have a recognized and valuable voice with the Middle School Administration. Due to their close relationship with the students and teachers in a given grade level, the deans are an important point of contact for students, parents, and teachers whenever the need might arise.
Advisory
The overarching goal of the Advisory program in the Middle School is to ensure that every single student is known, cared for, and nurtured in a way that meets the needs of each individual student. The Middle School advisory program provides a comprehensive one-to-one relationship between a teacher (the advisor) and student (the advisee) for communication, direction and personal growth. The groups are structured to include one teacher and 12 to 15 students. In addition to developing the relationship between student and advisor, the advisory group itself quickly begins to serve as each child’s school family. By being part of an advisory group, students have the opportunity to develop relationships outside their friendship groups and to interact with each other and a teacher in a less structured manner than the typical classroom. The advisor has a dual role as both advocate and mentor. The advisor may advocate for the child in student-teacher interactions while at the same time serve as a mentor to help a child reflect meaningfully on personal progress as a student.
Tutorial
Tutorial is a weekly period designed to allow students to meet with teachers to seek extra help or ask questions on classwork. Sometimes, teachers require students to attend tutorial to make up work, provide further guidance, and to check for content understanding. When students do not need individual time with a teacher, they are able to use tutorial to complete homework, study or work on long-term projects.