Sixth graders use a wind turbine to study alternative energy sources.

Middle School

Breck's Middle School has been named a "Blue Ribbon" school by the U.S. Department of Education, recognizing it as an "exemplary" school. 

The Middle School instituted Minnesota's first "Project Adventure" curriculum in 1989. In the 2006-07 school year, all Middle School students received a MacBook laptop computer for home and school use.

Sixth-grade science teacher Dan Ratliff recently won a grant from the Xcel Energy Foundation for an innovative program that will have his students doing feasibility studies of wind turbines and solar power to take their classroom off the commercial energy grid.

In recent years, three members of the science department have won substantial grants for innovative curriculum. Evan Jones received a $10,000 grant from the Toyota Corporation to create a database that will help fifth graders complete a journey to a fictitious star system during their study of space. Virginia Amundson received a $3,500 grant -- the first ever to a school -- from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to help her seventh graders complete an ambitious shoreline restoration project on the Breck campus. And Beckie Alexander also received a $10,000 grant from the Toyota Corporation for an ongoing study of ground water on the Breck campus. 

The Middle School staff communicates regularly with parents in several ways: progress reports are sent four times; a new student five-week report is mailed in mid-October; general communications slips are sent as needed; and phone calls provide a timely link between home and school. Parents' Back-to-School Night and informal parent conversations with the headmaster and division staff offer teachers and parents an opportunity to exchange information and to get to know each other better.

 

Laptop Program

Every Middle School student has a MacBook laptop for school and home use. Read more about how faculty and students are transforming learning with appropriate technology.