SRDS Offers Accelerated Middle School Science Curriculum

The educators and administrators at Saddle River Day School strive to support and guide their students as they build their knowledge and pursue their interests and prepare to become the leaders, thinkers, and innovators of tomorrow. To this end, the SRDS Middle School will be offering a brand new Accelerated Science Curriculum for interested and qualified seventh and eighth grade students beginning in the 2022 – 2023 school year.
 
Dr. Vanessa Robinson, chair of the Science Department at Saddle River Day School, says that this new program is for “advanced students who are performing above their grade level in science.” Students in this new program “can start developing advanced science skills earlier in their academic career…freeing up space in their high school schedule for more AP level science courses and honors science electives.” For students with an interest in and aptitude for science, the benefits of this program include more opportunities to pursue areas of research interest and a way to set themselves apart from their peers as they look to college and beyond.
 
Advanced rising 7th grade students may test into the Accelerated Science Program to place into Science 8. Advanced rising 8th graders may be placed into Honors Biology (typically a 9th grade course). Upon successful completion of Honors Biology, students may continue on the advanced track by taking Honors Chemistry in their 9th grade year.

This new program, according to Ms. Stasia Kelly, incoming Middle School Head, is an exciting addition to the middle school curriculum. “The Accelerated Science Program enables us to diversify our instruction to support the unique needs of each of our students. For students who are interested in the areas of health sciences, engineering, or medicine, this program will give them an introduction and a head start that will lead to additional opportunities to research and to otherwise apply their knowledge. It is yet another way we are recognizing and responding to the changing needs of our students.”
 
The Saddle River Day School commitment to science also includes innovative, real-world experiences like the chance to participate on the SRDS Middle School and Upper School Innovation teams. These teams work together at competitions to propose creative solutions to complicated problems. Additionally, science and technology-minded students can participate on the SRDS Robotics teams, and/or they can design their Upper School career around the fulfillment of the Saddle River Day School Gateway Diploma, a demanding academic framework that requires additional honors/AP coursework, field research, presentations and extra-curricular involvement. 
 
SRDS students continue to lead the way with bold ideas, confident scholarship and considered risk-taking. They are supported and guided by a faculty that, according to Ms. Kelly, “is uniquely qualified to give students the solid foundation they need to live the SRDS core values of  intellectual risk-taking and a love of learning here at our school and out in the world.”
 
For more information about admission to Saddle River Day School or the Middle School Accelerated Science Program, please email our Middle School Head, Stasia Kelly: akelly@saddleriverday.org