Co-Curricular Programs

List of 3 items.

• Advising and RISE

  Advising

  Advising is integral to the JMSG experience, where our deepest values as a community—honesty, empathy, positive risk-taking, inclusivity, sisterhood, humor—are renewed by a close-knit circle of students and their faculty advisor. The goals of the advising program are to foster students’ social and emotional learning and connection with classmates, form a strong mentoring relationship between advisor and advisee, and establish the advisor as the primary liaison between families and school. Advisors help students to set goals for their social and emotional development, take responsibility for the impact of their choices, and develop attitudes that help them persevere and prosper beyond their teen years. Twice a week, the group meets to explore topics such as community building, friendship, goal setting, and self care. A student's advisor tracks goals, offers guidance and feedback, and acts as an academic and social advocate while coaching them to advocate for themselves. Advisors communicate with teachers and families as needed during the year and help their advisees prepare for student-led conferences at the end of the fall and spring trimesters. 
  
  RISE: Resilience, Identity, Self-Awareness, Empathy
  

  Students develop their emotional intelligence and social skills through a weekly social and emotional learning class called RISE. The class provides an atmosphere of trust in which they can learn essential life skills, voice their feelings in a productive and safe way, and hear those feelings acknowledged by peers and teachers. RISE encourages students to explore their choices, develop a strong sense of self, recognize similarities, and respect each other’s differences. Utilizing a combination of discussion, role-playing, videos, hands-on activities, and guest speakers, the class covers a number of relevant, adolescent topics, including communication, diversity, gender, body image, sex education, and mental health. While topics may be similar in each grade, the RISE curriculum uses age-appropriate materials for each grade level.

• Technology

  The technology program invites students to embrace technology as a positive force while challenging them to think critically about its role in their lives. Students build foundational skills through exposure to various technology tools and opportunities while being simultaneously guided to problem solve, self-regulate, and develop a critical consciousness. Graduates gain a balanced, confident stance in preparation for future fluency and leadership in technology.

  One-to-One iPad

  Some of the goals of the program are to break down the digital divide, assure each student has equal access, integrate technology into classroom lessons and enrichment activities, and facilitate the teaching and learning of individualized content. Students can create multimedia in the context of their learning, organize their class work, and excavate data and facts from digital sources. Apps allow students to learn and demonstrate understanding with different modalities whether a video, voice recording, or digital annotation of a paper journal. As students progress through the grades and receive more training, they gain more freedom in taking home the device and utilizing a variety of apps.

• Afterschool and Before School Programs

  Scholars Studio - Everyday after school
  The purpose is to provide an optimal learning environment for students to complete their assignments before going home. For those who complete their work, a quiet activity or outside play will be provided. This is a drop-in, fee-based program for all students at JMSG.
  
  Chorus - Mondays after school
  Students in all grades will have a chance to sing both melody and harmony parts. Chorus will focus on vocal technique, breath control, note-reading, and singing in multiple parts. No experience necessary! 
  
  Band - Tuesdays and Fridays before school
  The 6th, 7th, and 8th grade band fosters JMSG’s young musicians’ discipline, determination, self-confidence, and camaraderie. It offers our instrumentalists a chance to improve their personal craft while creating music with a group focus. Students gain a heightened awareness of the conductor’s role in an ensemble, and work toward developing a sense of “collective time.” The pieces are arranged for the specific instrumentation of the group and skill of the individual players, offering each student level-appropriate music. Various small performing opportunities occur throughout the year; the Spring Concert is our biggest public performance. Band also motivates students to practice at home and at school, and it provides bonding opportunities and confidence boosts in a musical setting.
  

  
  

  ​Technology Enrichment (Coding) - Wednesdays after school
  Whether building with Legos, programming, researching, or competing in a robotics or Technovation coding competition, the students work in small teams to perform exciting technical challenges. Both opportunities have a mandatory commitment to practices and competitions. Robotics will be offered until November. Technovation begins in January.
  
  Improv - Tuesdays (6th) and Wednesdays (7th/8th) after school
  Students from all grades and levels of experience are invited to join and participate in improv, an after-school 60-minute class. Through playful, interactive theatre games and storytelling, students step into the improv world of possibility, spontaneity, and thinking on their feet. In this class, students learn that improv skills are life skills: listening, paying attention, storytelling, status, spontaneity, and making one’s partner look good.

   
  Sports Teams
  6th graders and beginners - Mondays
  Junior Varsity and Varsity teams - Tuesdays & Thursdays
  The mission of the athletics program is to inspire and challenge students of all physical talents and interests to develop confidence, flexibility, strength, endurance, mental discipline, coordination, balance, and skill. Julia Morgan School for Girls is a member of the Middle School Sports League of the East Bay and competes with other local middle schools in soccer, cross country, basketball, and volleyball. All sixth, seventh, and eighth graders are eligible to play on any team. Sixth graders can tryout for varsity and junior varsity teams if they have prior experience with the sport. Our program is free of charge, no previous experience is necessary, and all who tryout will make a team. Our coaches practice a coaching model that values winning while teaching life lessons through sports. Coaches emphasize effort, enthusiasm, and teamwork, as well as developing skill.