Grades 4 – 8

Lessons for PBDA’s older students extend far beyond the walls of Upper Campus – they reach literally around the world. With extremely small class sizes, faculty members are able to individualize their instruction for each student.

To view the PBDA Upper Campus curriculum overview, please click below.

Upper School Curriculum ’22-’23

Fourth Grade

The fourth grade at PBDA marks an important transition, both academically and developmentally, from elementary school to middle school. To help students better acclimate to new surroundings and expectations, the fourth grade classrooms are situated adjacent to one another in the close-knit “Fourth Grade Pod,” a similar set-up to the “Third Grade Pod” on the Lower Campus.

Through place-based learning, historical novels, and field experiences, students are provided with a challenging, interactive journey through Florida’s history. Highlights of these outside-of-the-classroom explorations include visits to Grassy Waters Preserve and Palm Beach Preservation Foundation’s Pan’s Garden, among others.

Each day, students participate in a coed, multifaceted P.E. program that includes large and small group games and activities, serving as an introduction to team sports. Each week, students take a rotation of music, drama and art classes, and all students are required to take either Spanish, Mandarin or French.

Fifth Grade

In addition to strong academics, the fifth grade program focuses on three areas most important to the transition from elementary to middle school: study skills, organization, communication and presentation skills.

Students learn specific study skills and habits that foster academic success. Organization skills are encouraged to help create a systematic, steady increase in personal responsibility for managing materials, sports commitments, assignments and free time.

Students are given several opportunities to practice their public speaking skills at major events, on stage, and in the classroom. Three signature events that leave a lasting impression on students and alumni are the Presidents’ Assembly, Banquet of the Gods and the Poetry Contest.

Sixth Grade

In their first year of middle school, sixth grade students are introduced to more complex and independent learning. As students in grades 6-8 work with a greater number of teachers across disciplines and develop strong academic relationships with their teachers, there is a call for greater independence and organizational skills. As such, all sixth grade students enroll in Study Skills, a course designed to sharpen executive functioning skills, note-taking, and preparation for assessments.

The final period of each day is an independent study period in which students complete homework or prepare for an upcoming assessment. During this time, all sixth grade teachers are available for students to ask questions as needed.

All students participate in the sixth grade sports program and compete with other local middle schools. Students enroll in four different Fine Arts courses, each course lasting 8 weeks

Seventh Grade

Students begin to work on their secondary school resume and are given the opportunity to take several courses for high school credit, including Algebra I and World Language. While collaboration and group work is still an important part of the curriculum, students are required to produce more extensive independent work – specifically in writing – as they write formal essays for both Social Studies and English class. Students work on personal laptops and develop a facility to use platforms like the Google Suite where they can receive digital feedback on all work.

While all PBDA students participate in many types of outside community service programs, seventh grade students in particular focus on those service projects in which they are most interested. In both athletics and the Fine Arts’ spring musical, students engage for the first time in the “try-out” phase.

Eighth Grade

Students in Grade 8 continue to have the opportunity to enroll in courses for high school credit, and our strongest math students may take Geometry and Algebra II in one school year.

In the fall, the Advisory program focuses on the secondary school process where students work directly with their advisors on school selection, as well as the application and interview processes. Also in the fall, students meet with the 40+ admissions representatives from various high schools that visit PBDA each year. Students participate in such traditions as the speech unit and the Educational Autobiography. As part of the U.S. History curriculum, students spend four days in Washington, D.C. exploring the nation’s capital.