Rainier Prep

Advisory

Advisory is a cornerstone of our program through which students create and discover strong, positive relationships with their peers, advisors, and our school community.  One teacher-advisor mentors a group of 12-15 students throughout the year, and they work together to build social and organizational skills, support reading goals, and partner more closely with families as we all navigate the successes and challenges of middle school.  

5th graders learn about their new school and our GUIDES values, how to make friends and problem-solve, and how they can contribute to their school.  6th graders develop their team-building skills as they examine their own and their peers’ strengths, ultimately collaborating on shared missions and promoting shared interests.  7th graders focus on developing healthy relationships with self, peers, and adults, and then ask how they are leveraging their healthy relationships in order to build the community they want.  8th graders explore their unique strengths through building a professional resume, completing at least one rigorous application for school, internship, or service, and applying to and selecting their best-fit high school.

Reading

Reading is a big part of life at Rainier Prep, and we see reading as a building block for learning in all other disciplines.  Reading classes are organized by students’ reading levels to afford students the most targeted instruction at their level.  Students who are significantly behind grade level in reading receive focused small group instruction (typically 6 students or fewer in a group).  Students who are near, at, or above grade work together in literature circles or on non-fiction reading, with a focus on discussion and analysis.

English Language Arts

Literacy is essential to our mission of preparing students for college access and to be leaders in their communities.  Our ELA classes integrate both reading and writing instruction each day, with some units focusing on literature and novels, and other units examining non-fiction.  Discussion (pair, small group, and whole class) is a major part of our work within each ELA class, as it allows students to formulate ideas with their peers, express themselves, and refine their points-of-view.  We emphasize using evidence to prove a claim both in writing and in discussion. All of this work culminates in a cross-curricular project in 8th grade with Social Studies, in which each student examines a social issue of concern through a research paper and a presentation to the community.

Math

Math instruction at Rainier Prep begins with learning and practicing a growth mindset, and builds skills in both fact fluency and conceptual understanding.  We provide targeted instruction through small groups in each class, and we promote a specific emphasis on math talk, where teachers provide direct instruction in both vocabulary and language structures that support math understanding.  Math is critical for college access, and so we strive to ensure that all students have a solid foundation to be successful in honors-level math classes in high school.

Physical Education / Health

We believe in the interconnectivity between the mind and the body. In this class, students work hard to improve their physical health and to develop their communication and collaboration skills.  Our 5th and 6th grade students participate in Physical Education / Health three days per week, while our 7th and 8th graders participate two days per week. Our classes are organized by student-identified gender to give students more focused opportunities to develop their athletic potential, body awareness, and team mindset, as well as being able to explore health topics more comfortably in groups.