An independent K-8 community school in Atlanta
Middle School
Our Program
Middle school can be a tough time in a child's academic and social journey. It is a time they are asking questions and deciding for themselves who they are and what they hope to be. Relationships are key to children this age, both with peers, parents and teachers.
At Morgan, our middle school teachers are experienced educators who have committed themselves to facilitating and supporting a child's educational journey. They understand the need for compassion, grace and guiding children as they develop healthy boundaries and lifelong friendships.
It is critical for children this age to feel safe at school, and to be engaged in work that is interesting and compelling. While our cohorts are small, it allows for children to develop deep connections with peers, and encourages connections with others who they may not have been gravitated to otherwise.
Students have a homebase teacher who supports them in the core areas of reading, writing and math. They begin and end the day with their peers and in the afternoon children engage in science, art permaculture, music, flex time and Civic Engagement.
Financial Literacy
Middle Schoolers historically have had a difficult transition to not only high school math, but in the ability to manage and understand the importance of financial literacy. Marginalized communities are particularly impacted by this. Our math specialists are not only invested in kids get to that "aha" moment, but in cultivating children who will grow up with a strong grasp of their personal finances, economy and how it all works.
Instead of teaching skills in isolation at Morgan, we aim to develop math curriculum that is fun and engaging, while bringing in the life skills kids will inevitably need to face.
Role playing, real world problems involving interest rates, percentages and measuring square foot boxes in which to plant next year's crop are all math activities children enter into in the second and third trimester at Morgan.
We don't simply want kids to love math, we want them to recognize how much they need math so that they might be the best Activists they can be.
Civic Engagement
Civic engagement is a huge part of our Middle Schooler's experience. Through Action Research, kid identify an issue they care about in the community and spend a semester diving into every aspect of the the assumed problem.
They do this through research, interviews, observations and writing a culminating essay that requires all the conventional expectations of a persuasive essay. In the essay, they will have identified a solution to the problem and outline how they will execute the plan.
They then spend the last trimester of their experience carrying that plan out. During this process, they are functioning not only as activists, but as scientists, taking notes, reporting findings, making hypothesis, sharing their work and trying a different strategy if theirs does not work.
Children throughout the school regularly engage in work promoting social justice and equity. As the oldest members of our community, the Middle Schoolers often lead these marches, while supporting their younger counterparts and sharing their leadership skills through modeling.
Socioeconomic representation is an important part of the diversity we treasure at Morgan Oliver. If we are to rethink our social structures, we also need to rethink our language and financial access to equity. (“Awards”, "Scholarships" etc. are ways to imply/show “power”).
Families and learners have to feel equal within the system. That’s why we have a fee structure which both allows family choice, and holds accountability. Under the Morgan model, everyone pays something, and everyone feels as though they have agency in the process, allowing anyone to participate in our liberatory educational and community focused model.
Families who are choosing options M-A fill out a 3rd party financial statement application. This ensures we are all holding each other accountable. Then, a family selects a tuition level they feel they can afford. Payments can be made over 12 months, quarterly, or in a lump sum.
Fee Structure
M
$648 each year
Or $54 each month
O
$6,024 each year
Or $502 each month
R
$9,624 each year
Or $802 each month
G
$12,024 each year
Or $1,002 each month
A
$19,224 each year
$1,602 each month
N
$21,624 each year
$1,802 each month