Upper School
The Upper School consists of Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grades.
At The Geneva School of Manhattan, Upper School students engage in the dialectic phase of the trivium and gain understanding in the many ways facts relate to each other.
The change from grammar stage pedagogy to dialectic stage teaching method is based on the way students learn and grow. For example, in grammar school, students love to memorize facts by singing songs and chanting rhymes.
By Fifth Grade, however, this method is no longer relevant. What students love to do as they mature into the middle school years is to refute points and discover inconsistencies in logic.
In our Upper School, we encourage students to apply logic and critical thinking to every subject. The history, science, and math facts learned in previous grades allow our students to delve into more complex subject matter. Students emerge from the dialectic phase being able to discern logical arguments from anything they read, see, and hear in electronic or printed media.
Upper School students revisit the historical periods (ancient, medieval, and modern) they studied in Lower School but with more sophisticated content. Whereas in Lower School a student memorized history facts in chronological order, Upper School students begin to assess the import of historical facts and their relevance to current events. By the end of Eighth Grade, our students are equipped to articulate a thesis and defend their theses in both oral and written forms. In addition, our Upper School graduates will have studied the greatest authors of ancient and modern history from Homer, Ovid, and Sophocles to Lewis, Tolkien, and Jefferson.
Our math curriculum prepares Upper School students for solving complex equations and word problems using multiple approaches. By the end of Upper School, students will have completed Algebra 1 course and acquired a comprehensive understanding of earth and life sciences and chemistry.
Also in the Upper School, students engage in lively and intensive study and debate of biblical texts with an emphasis on New Testament and church history. In addition, the visual arts curriculum complements their learning by giving them a thorough understanding of the elements of design.