Middle School Program

At Cross Creek Charter Academy our mission is to challenge each child to achieve through academic excellence, parent partnerships, moral focus and student responsibility in order to develop students into successful citizens with strong moral character. However, when children reach middle school, they need more. Middle school students need positive and strong friendships, teamwork skills, positive decision-making skills, strong role models, extra-curricular activities and opportunities for social growth. Beyond these, Middle School students need to unlock leadership potential in order to positively impact the high schools they will attend and the communities in which they will live. Cross Creek has a middle school program enriched with many opportunities for students to explore and develop their unique potential.

The theme for Byron Center's Cross Creek Charter Academy Middle School Program, which permeates many facets of the learning experience, is “REACHING UP, REACHING IN AND REACHING OUT!” Our 6th graders are REACHING UP, into the Middle School and learning how to adjust to the new experience. The 7th graders are REACHING IN, and evaluating their own character and learning how to build positive peer relationships. Our 8th graders are REACHING OUT. They are developing their leadership skills to positively impact the school and those around them, especially the younger students who look up to them.

Cross Creek Charter Academy's middle school offers your child a safe, caring school environment where your child can feel comfortable being himself. Because our middle school is small, we are also able to deliver a more personal teaching environment that makes a difference in your child's overall education. At Cross Creek, your child is given every chance to succeed because teachers are vested in each child's success. Additionally, we value the strong relationships our teachers forge with their students' parents. This mutual dedication is based on a common goal: To give each child the absolute best education possible.

Developmental Needs of Middle School Students
Sixth grade is the start of a significant educational transition, as it marks the beginning of middle school. Sixth through eighth graders at Byron Center's Cross Creek Charter Academy are considered middle school students. With this transition come many changes in both the structure of the school day and the expectations the school has for the students. Beginning in sixth grade, students move from class to class with an assigned homeroom. Cross Creek Charter Academy operates on a scheduling plan in order to keep students together in family groups with a smaller group of teachers. This type of scheduling also increases the effectiveness of the teachers as they prepare for fewer subjects and teach in their areas of greatest expertise.

Cognitively, middle school students begin to explore many new areas and concepts for which they were not previously ready. This includes exploring democratic virtues and procedures such as the function of rules and their necessity (as opposed to the teacher being in control of everything in the classroom). There is a shift away from the knowledge base and rewards for repeating memorized information to the use of higher level skills such as comprehension, inferring, analyzing and drawing conclusions. Middle school is also marked by a greater emphasis on aesthetic skills – appreciating art and music for the sake of beauty rather than merely as academic areas.

Lastly, middle school students begin to understand the role of the community and nation. This understanding includes being a part of something beyond themselves and their families through both the interdependency of humans and a support network that includes other adults, such as teachers and coaches.

Preparing Your Child for Middle School
The ways you can prepare your child for middle school are not just limited to academics. While academics are very important, this time is also significant for your child both individually and interpersonally. Students who enter middle school with a strong sense of who they are as individuals, will generally be much more successful than those who are unsure of their values and standards. By imparting the values of your family and discussing why those values are so important to your family and your child, you are able to give your child a strong sense of security and identity that is needed during the middle school years. Students who have strong values and standards in place are more free to concentrate on their academic pursuits, rather than struggling with these issues as they are confronted with pressures and values that may not be in line with those of your family.

If your children are not academically prepared for middle school, it is very important that you secure tutoring for them. Sixth through eighth grade academics have a significant amount of content and require higher-level thinking skills. If your student is still struggling to read at grade level or has poor basic comprehension skills, he will experience a great deal of frustration the entire year. If he is not prepared for the academic challenges ahead, it is imperative to get extra help before beginning sixth grade.

Assessments
At the middle school level, assessments for grading purposes are done primarily through quizzes, unit exams, projects and papers. Your child will have ample opportunities to use the academic planner system learned in fifth grade in order to keep track of the different assessments. All middle school students participate in the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). This test is given three times each year and provides objective norm-referenced data that informs classroom instruction. All middle school students complete any state mandated testing required by law.

Helping Your Child Succeed in Middle School
While middle school students are expected to take on a great deal of responsibility for their education, parents still play a significant role in the level of success their child will achieve. Maintaining high expectations for your student is very important. Taking into account the individuality of your child, it is important to set standards that you expect academically and then communicate them in a positive way.

Cross Creek's Middle School Points of Pride:
• Small, safe setting of 200 students (compared to 600+ in most Middle Schools)
• Character Camp each year
• No-cut athletic program which offers 2 team sports for boys and girls each season
• National Junior Honor Society
• 6th grade transition year
• Academic enriching field trips to Chicago, Northern Michigan and Washington, D.C.
• Encore classes such as Drama, Lego Engineering and Physics, Physical Education, Advanced Health and Fitness, Art, Journalism, Film, Advanced Literature, Computers I and II, French, Spanish I and II, Science Olympiad, Concert Choir, Symphonic Band and much more
• Individualized attention
• Partnership with the National Middle School Association
• Character Education integrated within the every day curriculum
• Community service from all students
• Parent training
• Middle School Team Week
• Middle School Career Day
• Middle School Ski Club
• Middle School organized after school social activities
• Full high school preparation program for 8th grade students including the Go Program, high school orientation sessions, decision making advice, etc.
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens training for all students
• $1000 Cross Creek Alumni College Scholarship awarded each year to a distinguished former student

Character Camp 
Cross Creek Middle School's Character Camp is an amazing opportunity for our students to build community through positive moral values. All middle school students in grades 6-8 are invited to attend two days and one night of teambuilding activities, nationally acclaimed speakers, community building activities and fun! The entire Middle School takes over Camp Manitou-lin in Middleville, MI, to experience canoe trips, high-ropes training, orienteering, great meals and great relationship building.

"I learned many moral values while attending Cross Creek. I now appreciate the monthly moral focus words and character education that was emphasized. The moral focus classes I took while at Cross Creek helped me make my high school decisions correctly. When I was in 9th grade, my teachers selected me as Student of the Month based on my moral character traits such as responsibility, respect, honesty and caring for others...Cross Creek helped me a lot by helping me set high academic standards and showing me the importance of good character."
Trevor, 2005 Cross Creek Scholarship recipient. 

 

To see how your child can benefit from a premier Byron Center middle school, visit Cross Creek Charter Academy.