Curriculum & Instruction

Tapestry’s middle school serves grades 6-8. Today, our highly differentiated program promotes individualization and student-driven access to learning and academic growth opportunities. Here are some of the most unique aspects of Tapestry’s middle school program:

“House” Program
Since inclusion and social-emotional development are key attributes of Tapestry, every student in our middle school grades belongs to a “House” at Tapestry in order to develop skills in a field that interests them. House options include Agriculture & Science, Engineering & Architecture, Technology, Computer Science, Theater & Language Arts, and Art. At the beginning of the year, each student selects a house based on their particular interests, and throughout the year, they work on large project-based learning experiences that benefit the school and/or community.

Individualized Learning
In the middle school, Tapestry has piloted an individualized learning program in all subjects that follows Webb’s Depth of Knowledge and is used in conjunction with Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This program allows our faculty to create Unit Maps for each learning unit where students progress through lessons at their own pace. Students can move on when ready or get extra support in a subject area where needed, which allows each student to receive the instruction that is most appropriate for where they are at any given time. Project-based learning opportunities will be built into these Unit Maps, so that the students will have the chance to develop higher order thinking skills on a project that is both challenging and relevant.

“What I Need” (WIN) Time
What I Need Time, or WIN time, is time built into the daily schedule where our middle school students receive specific, targeted instruction from their core subject teachers. This instruction can take the form of accelerated academic opportunities, deeper dives into subject matter, or filling gaps in a child’s learning. The goal of WIN is to help students build on their existing academic skills by working on learning targets outside of their daily coursework.

FLEX Time
FLEX Time is our student-driven aspect of our curriculum that provides time for students to work on individual learning plans designed and executed by them (with the assistance of their teachers). Through this program, students select and complete course objectives from their Unit Maps to build their self-reliance and executive functioning skills. Core subject teachers will be monitoring this time, but their role is primarily to facilitate as the students learn to take control of their own educational experience.