Middle School ~ Grades 6-8
Language Arts
Laurel Hall’s middle school language arts curriculum provides a comprehensive focus on literary analysis, the fundamentals of grammatical structure, vocabulary building skills, critical thinking, and strengthening writing structure and voice.
Math
Our math program allows students to recognize and appreciate the vital role mathematics plays in the real world. Using the common core standards, we strive to make mathematics useful and accessible to every student. Laurel Hall offers programs in Pre-Algebra and Algebra in the 7th and 8th grades respectively. We also offer 8th grade Honors Algebra. Laurel Hall aims to meet the needs of all learners whether remedial or advanced.
Science
Middle school science includes a study of living things on earth, journey into space, simple organisms, microbiology, astronomy, chemistry, physics, oceanography, and genetics. Project-based learning and science labs help to reinforce concepts.
History and Social Studies
Our middle school World History and American History curriculum programs are a compilation of critical thinking and the relationship of historical events that relate to our past and our present existence. The textbooks maintain consistency from seventh to eighth grade as to historical chronology of European and American events. The time frame ranges from the Roman Empire to present day. All cultures are represented and discussed through history and current events.
National Junior Honor Society (NJHS)
As your child begins their upper Middle School studies at LHS, we invite you to become familiar with NJHS – The National Junior Honor Society. The society is an American international student organization that consists of chapters in middle schools. Membership is open to 7th & 8th grade students. The purpose of NJHS is to promote the values of Scholarship, Service, Leadership, Character and Citizenship within a school.
All 7th and 8th grade students with a GPA equal to or above 3.50 are invited to apply to NJHS. As an NJHS member, you are required to do your very own and original community service project. Members also help organize key events for Laurel Hall while learning and advancing their teamwork skills.
Off-Campus Educational Opportunities
Grade 6 - Mile High Pines Camp (formally known as Alpine Camp): CODES Outdoor Education & Science Camp
Grade 7 - Catalina Island Marine Institute (Camp CIMI) studying marine biology.
Grade 8 - Washington, D.C. and the historic 10-day east coast to study our country's heritage.
Fine Arts
All students participate in our Fine Arts program. Students may choose from a variety of fine arts choices, including band, bells, strings, guitar, drama, and dance.
Religious Education
As a Lutheran school, Laurel Hall provides students with a Christian-based education while warmly welcoming families of all faiths and religious beliefs. Our student body reflects a diverse range of backgrounds and traditions, and we value the perspectives each family brings to our community.
In sixth grade, students concentrate on the Old Testament and study the Bible in its historical context. In seventh grade, students focus on the New Testament, with particular emphasis on the life and teachings of Jesus. In eighth grade, students explore how Christian values can be applied to life in the real world through social justice, service, compassion, and responsibility.
Community service is an important part of the middle school Bible curriculum, giving students opportunities to put the values they study into action and make a meaningful contribution to the wider community.
Mock Trial
Guilty or Not Guilty? Each year, Laurel Hall participates in the state-wide Mock Trial competition through the Constitutional Rights Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation that has developed law and business-related educational programs for 50-plus years. Assisted by a volunteer attorney, Mock Trial is an after-school Fall program. Students learn various aspects and laws of our legal system by participating in an assigned case as attorneys, witnesses, and more for both the Prosecution and the Defense in Downtown Los Angeles and in an actual courtroom in front of an actual judge. A competition, Laurel Hall goes against another school, and the judge decides who presented their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
