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Day School // Upper School | ||||||||||
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Upper School
The Talmud Torah of St. Paul Day School is a K-8 program. The Upper School consists of grades 5-8. Combining a highly experienced and outstanding upper school faculty with a challenging yet flexible curriculum designed by experienced educators and school administrators, TTSP’s Upper School provides an exceptional middle school education. View MCA test results. Not only are there significant changes in their patterns of thinking and learning, students at this age are also seeking their personal identity and their place in the world. Our Upper School is developmentally responsive to meet the unique and challenging needs of this age group.
We believe that students of middle school age must “learn how to learn” and they must have opportunities to do so individually and in groups. They must understand that the purpose of education is to solve problems in the real world using skills, knowledge and critical thinking abilities that they practiced and developed in school. To this end we prepare our students for high school by offering a program of learning in which students experience school as a community of learners, where they solve real-life, hands-on problems that allow them to make mistakes in order to succeed, and where they understand the joy of learning.
Each grade is staffed by a team of experienced teachers whose full-time responsibility is solely that grade. The teachers plan as a team and when appropriate, teach as a team. The teachers are also responsible for a Chavurah (Advisory Group) in which they establish a mentor relationship with individual students and the small group as a whole. The Chavurah meets each morning.
The curriculum is multidisciplinary and is able to accommodate flexible scheduling to make learning activities more effective and meaningful. Subjects include language arts, social studies, math, science, Jewish Studies (also called Torah), Hebrew, the arts (music, drama, dance and visual arts), and physical education. Technology is used/taught across the curriculum. Organizational skills, time management, study skills, and cooperative work skills are incorporated in every discipline.
 We offer students ample opportunities to participate in academic competitions such as MATHCOUNTS, Minnesota Math League, and National Geographic Geography Bee and other extra-curricular programs and sports teams. Partnerships are established with other independent and public schools as well as various Jewish and community agencies. These include continuing our collaboration with Minneapolis Jewish Day School. |
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Marjorie Smith Hofman Educational Building |
The National Middle School Association (NMSA) in their position paper, This We Believe, writes “Young people undergo more rapid and profound personal changes during the years between 10 and 15 than at any other period of their lives… With young adolescents, the achievement of academic successes, for example, is highly dependent upon their other developmental needs being met.”