MSB’s Dual Language Program has been a hallmark of the school for decades. As our students step into the Middle School, they will use what they’ve learned as guideposts for our new Intensive Language program. The Intensive Language program will allow students to improve their language and writing skills in both English, Chinese, and eventually, a third language.

Experiential education is foundational to our academic work. Two vital parts of our Middle School Program will be our start of the year Odyssey Trip and our participation in the Model Montessori United Nations (MMUN). One of the cornerstones of Montessori adolescent education is the idea that these young adults need to “get out of their comfort zone”.

Our Odyssey Trip is the beginning of the year excursion, designed to bring the class together and to rely on one other. Our students hike and camp in a place of geographical and historical significance. Students are accompanied by their teachers and expert guides. This first experience establishes strong bonding, lays the groundwork for our academic program, and builds exciting memories.

The MMUN is a specially designed venue for Montessori students from all over the world to come together. Taking place annually in New York and Geneva, participants in this wonderful experience become citizens of different nations, proposing solutions to current issues. A widening of the students’ perspective and a feeling of empowerment is developed as they become ambassadors of their countries. The United Nations organizations are researched extensively by each student. The 4-day conference allows time for resolution writing, forming relationships with others around the world, and sight-seeing in the city.

MSB’s unique leadership program will instill the values that we want our children to have, fair play, honesty, openness, and a deep belief that there is something greater outside themselves. By the time our students graduate eighth grade, they will be firm in the knowledge that they are not passively connected to their education or the world around them, they are drivers of their own education and experience.

Finally, MSB is growing! As we thoughtfully expand into our College Preparatory High School program in the near future, we will keep the best of who we have been for the last thirty years, a close-knit community where our students will be seen, they will be known, and their voice will be heard. With intentionally small class sizes, MSB will continue to be personal, academically rigorous, accessible, and deeply community orientated.