9TH GRADE SNEAK PEEK
OUTDOOR EDUCATION
Freshman year at Prairie – just like every other year at Prairie – begins with students heading off to camp for a week of building bonds (and bonfires). Their week-long adventure at Camp Manitowish in Boulder Junction, WI is rooted in relationship-building, collaboration, and fun, sets the stage for an awesome year.
J-TERM
While every 9th grade course is packed with fun projects led by caring faculty, they don’t all involve traveling to China. Or curling. Or building a boat. Enter J-Term, an intensive two-week program held every January allowing students to pick from a kaleidoscope of topics that can’t be offered in the regular curriculum. Snorkeling, anyone?
TAKING THE NEXT STEP
BY THE NUMBERS
16
SPORTS OFFERED
IN UPPER SCHOOL
83%
OF US STUDENTS
ARE ATHLETES
14
OPPORTUNITIES TO
PERFORM EACH YEAR
61%
OF US STUDENTS ARE
IN PERFORMANCE ARTS
FRESHMAN CURRICULUM
You’ll take courses like math and biology, but you’ll also choose a world language, a visual arts class – drawing or ceramics or glassblowing, just to name a few – and also select a performing arts course like tech theatre, orchestra or choir, or work on the musical.
9th grade is not just a blast, it’s where you first discover all the possibilities that exist here at Prairie.
WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY
MORNING MEETING
No intercoms? No problem. At Prairie, we believe there’s only way to deliver the day’s announcements – in person, surrounded by your closest friends. Every day at 10:00AM, students and faculty gather together in the Upper School Commons to debrief, decompress, and support one another.
PATIO PARTY
Prairie students work (and play) hard. Sometimes, after a full week of classes, it’s imperative to take a brain break. And nothing says brain break like a Prairie Patio Party.
OCTOBERFLEX
When you hear ‘Flex’ you can think study hall. Or one-on-one help from a teacher. Or a chance to read. Or write. Or reconnect with friends. Or participate in a club meeting. Each day for an hour during Flex, you are given the freedom to use Flex however you like. (Cell phones not included 🙂)
SPIRIT WEEK (aka TPS HOMECOMING)
When it’s your first month of 9th grade you might be new to Upper School, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be intimidated. Throw on your class shirt, grab your end of the tug of war rope, and prepare to dominate those Upper Classmen.
COLLEGE COUNSELING:
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER PRAIRIE
Finding the college that’s right for you is something we take very seriously, and it’s a process that begins right away your freshman year. Our College Counseling team meets with every 9th grade student and their family to provide important information, start a dialogue, and begin the process that will result in you discovering and applying to the best schools for you.
TAKING THE NEXT STEP