The Online Middle School Day at PALCS

At PALCS, every middle school course offers at least one live virtual lesson each week. The lesson will be hosted by your teacher, using a headset and webcam, and is open to all students in the course. All courses are recorded and have mandatory virtual attendance, though if a student must miss a class, he or she may watch the recorded lesson for credit. Virtual lessons last 40-45 minutes and take place on a set weekly schedule.

Teachers also host Office Hours during standard business hours, where they will be present in a virtual classroom at a scheduled time and be available to assist students with any assignment questions on an as-needed basis. PALCS offers online homework help after standard business hours, Sunday through Thursday nights, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Students may log in as needed and speak with a PALCS teacher.

The University Scholars Program and the Center for Performing and Fine Arts are available to PALCSchool students 6th grade and up.

PALCS middle school guidance counselors each maintain a non-academic course where families can access supplemental monthly lessons that explore topics like study skills, time management, career awareness, transition to high school, positive character traits, bullying, and friendship. Guidance resources for parents and students are also posted in this course.

Core Classes

Middle school students are required to complete the core courses of language arts, math, science, and social studies each year in grades 6, 7, and 8. Advanced tracks are available for core subjects.

Students will be placed into math and language arts sections based upon data compiled from test scores, teacher observation, classroom participation, and overall achievement within their prior course. Each section will be developed for students placed in appropriate tiers. Tier 1 students will be provided on-grade level course content along side of resources to help individualize student instruction tailored to their needs. Tier 2 students will have instruction that focuses on reinforcement as well as on-grade level course content. These students also benefit from small group virtual lessons with an interventionist. The Tier 3 students will be placed into a course that delves into further reinforcement of foundational skills. This course gives students the opportunity to work through and expand on skills that have been a challenge to master. Tier 3 also provides resources to individualize instruction for students, including small group and individual live support sessions with an interventionist.

Elective Classes

Students have the opportunity to choose from a variety of electives in the subjects of arts & humanities, business & technology, health, safety & PE, world languages, and leadership. Sixth grade students are required to take Elective Explorations, where they rotate through introductory art, music, business and personal fitness classes. This course satisfies their required P.E. course and includes skills development to help the transition to middle school as well as the career exploration requirements.

Additional elective course information may be found in the Middle School Electives section of the catalog. A physical education course is required in 6th grade, a health course is required in 8th grade, and all other elective schedules in grades 6-8 will be individualized to student interests and needs. Please contact your Guidance Counselor with questions about middle school electives.

Middle school students can attend any of our open chats or online activities. In our offices, students are able to participate in the Middle School Connect program that occurs every marking period and alternates themes around science, math, art, and socialization games.

Our activity groups meet monthly, and we also offer assemblies each marking period as well. Around the state, families are welcome to attend any of the numerous field trips hosted by our teachers and parent network coordinators.

Further information on PALCS activities can be found at Student Activities, and enrolled students should check the PALCSchool for up-to-date field trips, event listings, and contact information for these activities.

Advanced Coursework

Within core classes, advanced options are available. These advanced options are designed to take students deeper into the content and will be designated as an Advanced Language Arts, Advanced Science, or Advanced Social Studies class. Math classes may be designated as Advanced or specialized into a course such as Algebra I. To be eligible for advanced courses, students must have strong academics, strong test scores, and teacher recommendation.

Supplemental Help

Students who need additional, intensive practice in reading and/or math will be placed into the Voyages through Reading and/or Math Connect program. All students have access to both Math Connect as well as our Math Lab, where they can drop in for live help with one of our teachers. These students are identified through multiple measures of classroom performance, including Tier 2 and Tier 3 students who have increased support from our math interventionists. Courses for each grade level are structured the same but tailored to specific grade level content. These programs will also provide additional live, small group virtual lesson instruction tailored to the student’s needs.

Math Connect is a math intervention course. While working with a math interventionist, students will focus on key foundational skill building, number sense, and problem-solving experiences. Math Connect follows entrance and exit criteria which include PSSA scores, benchmark assessments, grades in Math, and teacher input.

Voyages through Reading is a reading intervention course. The course uses the Language! Live program and focuses on fluency, comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, and writing. Voyages Through Reading follows entrance and exit criteria which include PSSA scores, CDT scores, iReady scores, benchmark assessments, or other assessments, grades in Language Arts, and teacher input. Voyages Through Reading will take the place of an elective course.

Special Education

Special Education services are available for PALCS students. Accommodations are highly individualized on a student-by-student basis.

Guidance

The Guidance Department at PA Leadership provides students with developmental, educational, preventative and responsive services, while encouraging and supporting learning and achievement. Our comprehensive guidance department is fully staffed with a counselor for each grade level to better serve the needs of our families.

For detailed information on the Middle School curriculum at PALCS, we invite you to download and explore our interactive Curriculum Map. This document outlines the many classes and subjects that students explore as part of a PALCS middle school education.