Experience Curriculum

New Media Middle's curriculum ·balances rigorous, standards-based academics with opportunities for individual growth and autonomy; empowering students to excel in every endeavor they wish to undertake. Our curriculum takes a standards-based approach and combines it with the need for technology proficiency, artistic and creative expression, collaborative and critical thinking, and community engagement. Developed by Joni Boyd, Ph.D., the New Media Curriculum Model reflects the individual needs of our students, the specific goals of our school, and the overarching principle that a global society demands specific skills in order for our students to be innovative and competitive.

New Media Middle will provide its students with a 21st Century teaching and learning eco-system where students will be immersed in a newfound relationship with proven and emerging technological tools, processes and applications.· Conceived as a "paperless school," the Leadership Team determined that no existing curriculum was suitable for the vision and the mission of New Media.· Consequently, an all-new Experience Curriculum was designed to guide instruction in common core standards in a technology rich environment.· The Experience Curriculum consists of three core phases – Explore, Extend, and Excel.

EXPLORE: 6th grade students will be exposed to a wide-variety of technological applications with the understanding that this experience will serve a similar function as do "survey" courses in college.·Students will have the opportunity in 6th grade to experiment with multiple technological tools, processes and applications, scratching the surface of what is possible, while developing skills and applicable knowledge. Rightly labeled the EXPLORE stage, the 6th grade students will be immersed in the technology experience. By the end of 6th grade, the students will be familiar enough with a variety of technology tools, process and applications for them to be ready to EXTEND their learning in the 7th grade.

EXTEND: Applications of technology EXPLORED in 6th grade will be EXTENDED in 7th grade curriculum.·In the 6th grade, the students receive an overview of many technological applications.·In the 7th grade, the students will gain a deeper understanding of several of these and will EXTEND their knowledge of these technologies to a deeper, more advanced and more meaningful level.·Which prepares 7th grade students for the cumulative phase of the Experience Curriculum, EXCEL.

EXCEL: In the 8th grade, the students may choose no more than three modes of technology to focus on throughout the school year. These are chosen by the student and are based on which technological mode they were captivated by during their experience in the exploring and extending phases. This is the most sophisticated level of the technology experience. The students will EXCEL in these specific technologies to the level of mastery.