Co-Curricular Programs

List of 6 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 girls’ 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 girls 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 her to advocate for herself. 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
  

  Girls 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 girls 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 girls 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. 

  Sixth and Seventh Grade Technology & Tools Class

  This weekly class teaches students the technical skills they need to be successful in their academic classes. Lessons provide an opportunity to practice skills needed for a particular academic unit, increasing their proficiency with repeated exposure. In both years, special attention will be given to teaching girls how to use their school-issued iPads mindfully and appropriately both in class and as they move between school and home. Units from Common Sense Media’s Digital Compass and Digital Literacy and Citizenship curriculum will be interspersed. Girls also will learn to use other tools on campus like the Makerbot 3D printer and those in the tinkering stations.

  
  

  One-to-One iPad

  Some of the goals of the program are to break down the digital divide, assure each girl 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 girls to learn and demonstrate understanding with different modalities whether a video, voice recording, or digital annotation of a paper journal. As girls progress through the grades and receive more training, they gain more freedom in taking home the device and utilizing a variety of apps.

  
  

  Robotics and Technovation Clubs

  These tech clubs are designed to spark excitement about programming and technology. Robotics Club follows the First Lego League curriculum, and Technovation teams are part of a global app-coding competition. In Robotics, girls work in teams to design, build, and program a robot to maneuver or pick up small Lego obstacles. Their robots compete against other robots to do the same tasks. In Technovation, girls strategize, design, and code an app. Additionally, they must write a business plan and go through an ideation process to prove how they will market and sell their app. In both clubs, girls must collaborate in teams to research a problem in the community that ties into a particular theme, then derive an innovative solution. In both clubs, girls are taught valuable life skills, such as learning to work on a team, competing under pressure, and maintaining good sportswomanship. Furthermore, girls learn they can be successful not only in coding and robotics, but also can have leadership positions in these fields. Several JMSG alum have gone on to be the only girls on their coed high school robotics teams, leading these teams as well.

  
  

  Tinkering Stations

  Before school, during morning break, or between classes, girls deconstruct devices, build, use tools, and play at the tinkering stations. Learning through play is an effective method to enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Tinkering is responsible for developing new technology, prototypes, works of art, breakthroughs in film, and methods of improving what already exists. Spatial awareness, mechanical reasoning, invention, exploration, experimentation, risk-taking, systematic questioning, self-monitoring, self-correction, and creativity are all a part of the tinkering experience. 

• Before School

  Even though our doors open at 7:30am for early drop off, school does not start until 8:55am. At JMSG, girls have the freedom to determine how best to start their days, choosing from a range of activities. Many girls prefer the luxury of an unscheduled morning time so they can meet with teachers, connect with friends, or catch up on quiet reading.

• Community Time

  Community time occurs every day throughout the week and ensures students and staff connect as a community. It promotes bonding among peers, facilitates student contact with teachers, supports student self-advocacy, and creates space for us to share, celebrate, and play together as a school community.

• After School

  After-school offerings will change during the 2020-2021 school year. All activities will resume when allowed.

  The Scholars Studio - Everyday
  The purpose is to provide an optimal learning environment for students to complete their assignments beforegoing home. For those who complete their work, a quiet activity, as well as outside play, will be provided. This is a drop-in, fee-based program for all students at JMSG.
  
  Chorus - Mondays
  Girls 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! 

  
  

  ​Technology Enrichment 
  Robotics - Tuesdays & Thursdays
  Technovation - Wednesdays & Fridays
  Whether building with Legos, programming, researching, or competing in a robotics or Technovation coding competition, the girls 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 - Wednesdays
  Girls from all grades and levels of experience are invited to join and participate in Improv, an after-school 90-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 Grade Sports - Mondays
  7th & 8th Grade Sports - 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. Our program is free of charge, no previous experience is necessary, and all who tryout 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.

• High School Preparation

  The transition to high school, like so much at JMSG, is focused on each girl’s personal pathway. The high school process becomes a kind of coming of age for our students, as they affirm their strengths, identify future aspirations, and advocate powerfully for the environment that will best serve their needs. Working closely with the top school options for our families, we facilitate communication between families and schools and support girls to connect with the schools that speak to their needs and passions as learners. We assist with traditional supportive offerings like test preparation and hosting meetings with high school admission representatives. Time and again, high school admission representatives remark how our alum stand out in the classroom. We are pleased with our school placement results—approxiamately 95% of girls accepted to their first-choice schools—but we are truly proud when our graduates go on to become the student leaders, award winning scholars, and changemakers, demonstrating the efficacy of their singular middle school experience.