This is an exciting time, as children seek to define who they are and cultivate autonomy. It's also an important stage to manage emotional regulation and develop empathy.

As with all students, Aurora’s staff pay attention to the whole child, cultivating their emotional growth as well as their learning process. We accommodate their desire for community and belonging with our Partner Pals program, where they are paired with older and younger peers for monthly projects, and they begin participating in clubs led by Aurora Middle Schoolers.

Social-emotional learning continues to be reinforced in Open Circle, where students talk about how to manage their emotions, strengthen their relationships, and solve problems in a positive way. Students are given the opportunity to explore this in morning meetings and their weekly SEL meetings.

To make sure that lessons aren’t repeated and that certain subjects are addressed to specific learning levels, our curriculum runs on a two-year cycle: