Intermediate Education
Developing Skills for Future Learning
The time spent in Intermediate school (6th – 8th grade) is a formal, operational stage of development for children. During this stage, your child will develop skills to logically solve problems, understand different views, and make plans for the future.
Clear Creek Independent School District tailors learning to meet the needs of EACH child during this critical stage of development—each child has a seat at the table, each child has a voice, and each child has an opportunity to succeed in one of our eleven intermediate schools.
Learning Based on Developmental Needs
The intentional use of “each” is woven into the philosophy and education at Clear Creek ISD. Aligned with a workshop-model approach to learning, this philosophy helps meet the emotional and social needs of children at the intermediate school level.
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies are taught using the workshop method. This instruction style breaks subjects into mini-lessons (approximately 15 minutes). During a mini-lesson, a teacher introduces a teaching point, and then students break out as individuals or within small groups for practice. This allows for one-on-one conference time with each student as needed. The workshop method of Clear Creek ISD aligns the mental capacity and attention span of intermediate-aged children with an open-yet-structured learning environment.
The use of technology plays an important role in the classroom. All students are provided with a school-issued laptop or tablet thus helping to develop personal responsibility for the device; the mini-lesson application incorporates the use of Microsoft Office products into lessons and homework.
Continuing the support for social and emotional learning, each campus has two dedicated, on-campus counselors. The counselors incorporate practice and support into the daily schedules of the students through weekly goal setting. Students are encouraged to set weekly and long-term goals during an advisory period with an accountability partner. The students keep leadership logs, review grades, and learn about leader core value traits.
Launch for Success
The Clear Creek ISD Vision 2030 plan outlines bold objectives in support of student learning including the redesign of intermediate school learning systems. As a result of Vision 2030 work, we are launching a new intermediate course for all sixth-grade students. This course will empower students with a foundation of habits and tools for personal and interpersonal success as they transition from elementary school to middle school, high school and beyond. This course will utilize Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Framework as well as expand career exploration for sixth-grade students. All 6th-grade students will participate in this content based on the campus and program they attend. WAVE Basics will continue to be required for WAVE students in lieu of the Launch course. Students enrolled in Science Magnet will receive Launch curriculum through Scientific Literacy.
We hope you will find a place at one of our ten intermediate school campuses. Our doors are open, and we encourage you to enroll at any time.
Science Magnet Program
Since 1993, Clear Creek ISD has excelled in offering a Science Magnet program and electives to students with a high interest in science. Although STEM-based curriculum is provided to all students on all intermediate school campuses, two of the ten intermediate schools within the District are Science Magnet schools.
The magnet program combines traditional science instruction with student-selected science electives and incorporates “real world” learning and family engagement through various events and activities. Applications to the Science Magnet Program are encouraged for all Clear Creek ISD students entering 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Upon application approval, your child would attend one of the Science Magnet campuses regardless of which school you are zoned to.
WAVE Gifted & Talented Program
In alignment with Clear Creek ISD’s constant focus on evolution, the District has offered an intermediate-level Gifted and Talented Magnet Program called WAVE (Webster Academy-Visions in Education) for nearly 20 years. This application-based program is offered at two of the ten intermediate school campuses. It is the WAVE philosophy to meet the unique intellectual, social, and emotional needs of GT students.
Gifted and talented students from across the District are brought together for the opportunity to interact with their intellectual peers within a learning environment designed to facilitate and expand learning. The core curriculum is taught through mini-courses designed to allow student-choice focus and real-world applications. The acceleration within a subject follows the pace of the learner, not the grade level.