Graduation

What Does it Mean To Graduate from Mission Hill School?

During the critical transition years between childhood and high school, young people need schools that share certain characteristics. First of all, they should be schools where young people work in small groups with a small number of adults who know them well. Second, students need to experience high and rigorous academic expectations. Third, they need to see the connections between academic work and the work that takes place outside of the classroom. Fourth, they need opportunities to explore the world in authentic and engaged ways--through music, dance, theater, visual art and outdoor education. And finally, students should have opportunities to make their own positive individual and collective mark on their environment–to be useful to others. Graduation from our school is a process that incorporates all of these opportunities and expectations. But how do we measure students’ accomplishments and gauge their knowledge?

During the three years of the middle school program, students will be preparing to show the world—specifically their graduation committee—their readiness for high school. An eighth grade diploma from the Mission Hill School represents the completion of six exhibitions where students demonstrate their knowledge and competence in areas prescribed by the faculty. Exhibitions include traditional schoolwork, as well as evidence from the experiences students have had in the outside world. Each student’s work is represented and collected in a portfolio, which, along with on-demand tasks, becomes the basis for that student’s exhibition.

Heidi Lyne's Carnegie Foundation Film

In 2001, Heidi Lyne, a former teacher here at Mission Hill, was awarded a prestigious Carnegie Foundation Grant, which she used to produce a documentary film on the portfolio graduation process at our school. The documentary shows both the development of the students' written work and presentations, and the efforts of the faculty to implement and refine their approach. The movie was filmed by our own Technology Specialist, John McSweeney. Please click on the link below to view the film in its entirety.

Heidi Lyne's Graduation Portfolio movie.

Click on the link below to view, print, or download the entire Overview of Mission Hill School's Graduation Requirements and the Portfolio Review Process

Graduation Requirements and Portfolio Review Revised Dec 2007.doc

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