Core Academics
A Foundation of Excellence
Deep Creek Middle School delivers a vibrant, broad-based academic core that engages students as active learners across a broad array of subjects and activities.
Social Studies
The DCMS Social Studies curriculum examines how geography + history = culture, combining the objectives of the BJC Social Studies curriculum with a continual focus on the power of communities to shape their own futures. In seventh grade, students learn principles of mapping and ecology to explore how place shapes human activity, and eighth-graders study how different peoples have interpreted “civilization” over 500 years of Bahamian history. Ninth-graders analyze the social institutions that have impacted The Bahamas, from the Transatlantic Slave Trade to contemporary Bahamian government, in order to understand and transform the structures that influence their lives. The curriculum develops students’ abilities to write, pursue independent research, and debate. DCMS field trips bring it all to life.
Math
The math curriculum is a spiraling curriculum in which concepts are revisited each year. Seventh grade serves as an introduction, eighth grade provides an opportunity to master the skills, and ninth grade requires students to apply their knowledge and skills into real-life situations. The curriculum focuses on problem solving strategies and incorporates real-life problems and situations to make the students equipped for the challenges they are facing outside of school. The units range from number theory with reviews of basic operations, fractions, decimals and percent to statistical analysis and probability with collecting data, to symmetry, geometry and algebra.
Science
Science classes at DCMS are developed using curriculum put forth by the Ministry of Education with strong emphasis on a minds-on, hands-on approach to learning.
Grade 7 science largely focuses on introducing students to science: What is science? Who is a scientist? What skills do scientists utilize? In addition, grade 7 students study the marine ecosystems of The Bahamas and its native organisms by immersing themselves in Eleuthera. What better way to learn about the interconnectedness of this place than to snorkel reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds? Students conclude the year with an introduction to animal and plant cells.
Grade 8 science focuses heavily on chemistry. Students study matter and its properties, the periodic table, the formations of compounds, acidity, and engage in a highly experimental unit on mixtures and solutions. In addition, students explore the carbon and nitrogen cycles and how humans alter these cycles.
Grade 9 science at DCMS kicks off with a unit on energy. For the first half of the year the students learn about light, sound, and heat energy and how these principles relate to SCUBA, a class offered only to grade 9 students. Later in the year, students explore simple machines, electricity, and magnetism.
English
The English curriculum is grounded in the belief that reading and writing engage us with ideas and the world, and connect us to each other; it focuses on increasing literacy and improving writing skills in preparation for the English and English Literature BJC examinations. The building blocks of reading and writing are taught through Reading Workshops, literature studies, Writing Workshops, vocabulary study, drama and nonfiction analysis. There is a strong emphasis on developing a culture of literacy and critical thought, in and beyond the classroom.
The Island School Stories
Deep Creek Middle School is an experiential learning school. We interact with the ocean and nature. We are a green school, which teaches us to be more responsible, such as reducing plastic waste. We are a loving and nice community.
Health & Wellness
Health and Wellness teaches the importance of all around good health providing students with knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their physical, social, spiritual, environmental, and emotional health as they mature. Health and Wellness offers rich content and helps students learn how to use critical thinking to become problem solvers and lifelong learners. Our goal is to prepare students with the skills to live healthy and happy lives.
In grade 7 we touch on nutrition and fitness, values, puberty, sexual health, and human sexuality. In grade 8 we cover communication, love and relationships, diversity, drugs and alcohol and many more topics. Grade 9 focuses on human anatomy and physiology in preparation the the BJC exam.
Art
The Arts curriculum is focused on Visual Arts and Performing Arts. Each year, students are given the choice of which discipline to pursue and take part in a multi-grade course focused on that discipline. In Visual Arts, students are introduced to the technical and performing skills and concepts necessary to produce quality artwork while they are encouraged to problem solve across academic disciplines. Performing Arts students hone their creativity and critical thinking skills, foster compassion and empathy, and refine their communication skills. Through the Arts, students learn that we can use art as a lens for examining environmental issues and investigating social justice. We can understand identity and culture and recognize the role that the Arts play in society and our personal lives. In developing our appreciation of Art and increasing our skills, we prepare not only for the BJC national exam in Art & Design, but also collaborate and support each other’s creative processes.
Religious Knowledge
The Bahamian Ministry of Education religious knowledge curriculum is an introduction to the study of the Bible and the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The purpose of the course is to teach students the role spirituality and the church can play in their lives. It also provides students with a moral guide for making decisions as they move through adolescence into adulthood and prepares them for the BJC exam.
