The Saratoga Independent School (SIS) formally opened its new Middle School in September.
The Middle School at SIS is for students in sixth grade this fall and will expand by adding seventh grade in the fall 2019 and eighth grade in Fall 2020 school officials said.
A ribbon-cutting event celebrated its opening at the SIS campus at 459 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs.
“We are thrilled to celebrate the thoughtful and unprecedented growth of SIS, a school that has more than doubled in enrollment in recent years, and has doubled in physical size since 2016,” said Lisa Brown, SIS head of school. “The Middle School at Saratoga Independent School is here.”
Brown served as associate head of school at Doane Stuart School from 2000 to 2017. During her tenure, she also served as interim head of school from 2012 to 2014 and as head of the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools.
“A Middle School is so much more than a physical space, more than a collection of teachers and students, it is a place where ideas are born, are nourished and grow” said Jeny Randall, SIS Middle School coordinator and teacher who developed the new middle-school curriculum. “It is a community of learners who come together to mull, debate and explore.”
Prior to joining the SIS faculty in 2011, Randall taught science at Tenacre Country Day School in Wellesley, Mass., and middle school science at Kentucky Country Day School in Louisville, Ky.
As the ribbon cutting, Catherine LoMonico, SIS board chair, thanked the many individuals who were involved in the process. LoMonico, a former independent school teacher from New York City, worked with Brown on a task force made up of faculty, staff, and community members to prepare for the opening of the middle school.
“The addition of a new middle school to the Saratoga Independent School will allow students to continue on their path in a differentiated, individualized educational environment that fosters creativity and a passion for learning. It is organizations like Saratoga Independent School that prepare our next generation of leaders in an environment that allows them to thrive” said Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner.
The inaugural middle school class is a group of 13 sixth graders.
To learn more about the Middle School at Saratoga Independent School, call (518) 583-0841 or visit www.siskids.org.