At Blue School in New York City, students receive instruction in a curriculum that balances academic growth with creative thinking and social-emotional development. Currently in service to students age two through fifth grade, Blue School of NYC will add sixth grade in the 2015-2016 school year and expand through eighth grade by 2018.

1. Social and Emotional
Development in Middle School
By Blue School

2. Introduction
• At Blue School in New York City, students receive
instruction in a curriculum that balances academic
growth with creative thinking and social-emotional
development. Currently in service to students age
two through fifth grade, Blue School of NYC will add
sixth grade in the 2015-2016 school year and expand
through eighth grade by 2018.
Originally conceived as a version of high school for
younger students, the middle school has evolved in
recent decades to acknowledge the unique
developmental needs of children in early
adolescence.

3. Social and Emotional Development
• Psychological research has noted that individuals in
this stage of life experience a very different mindset
and set of emotional challenges than both older and
younger students. Middle school students find
themselves disrupted by the sudden onset of
hormones as well as rapidly changing views of
themselves and their social world.
A middle school student struggles with his or her
self-image in the long term in the face of in-the-
moment experiences.

4. Conclusion
• Simultaneously, this same student must integrate
perceived views of others with views of his or her
current self and potential future self. These inner
conflicts contribute to the mental state of early
adolescence that many observers describe as
insecure, unstable, awkward, or easily embarrassed.
Schools that ignore this emotional development do
students a disservice. To reach students of this age,
schools need to acknowledge the rich emotional and
social lives of young adolescents and acknowledge
their experiences as part of the curriculum.