Events and Traditions

The Middle School shares long-standing experiences with previous WT classes, and creates new, meaningful traditions to share with future students. The following events hold special meaning to our students and the school community.

Middle School Musical
Each fall the Performing Arts Department produces a Middle School musical, open to all Middle School students. Some students may discover a talent working behind the scenes on stage crew, while others may find a role singing on stage. Participation in the musical serves to develop and strengthen collaboration, friendships and bonds across all Middle School grade levels.

Kindergarten Buddies
Kindergarten and eighth-grade "buddies" are a hallmark of the Middle School experience; it is a strong tie that further connects our divisional learning communities.

Buddies meet several times during the school for a variety of activities. Eighth grade students have opportunities to be leaders as they read their favorite childhood stories to their buddies, accompany them in the annual Halloween parade, or play and organize a game of tag on the playground during recess.

May Day
A long-standing tradition of the school, May Day begins with Lower and Middle School students forming a large semicircle around colorfully decorated maypoles. They await the arrival of our eighth-graders, who ceremonially march onto Garland Field hand-in-hand with their Kindergarten buddies. Together they celebrate the beginning of spring by performing the maypole dance. Following the dance, eighth-graders enrolled at WT since Pre-K or Kindergarten are honored in a special roll call.

Moving Up Day
Each June we formally celebrate the culmination of the Middle School experience with a Moving Up Day ceremony. It is a wonderful time for students and faculty to reflect on the year’s experiences as students prepare to move on to the next grade in the fall.

Grade Level Trips
Each grade embarks on an off-campus journey that allow students to apply knowledge and skills gained in and outside the classroom to practical and authentic learning experiences. The trips are created, designed, and chaperoned by Middle School faculty.

During these trips students have hands-on experiences related to the various curricular areas in the Middle School, conduct research, and use critical analysis and writing skills to communicate their thoughts and findings through projects that happen when they return to campus.

Trip destinations and themes include:

• Sixth Grade: Two-day, one-night trip to a historical location such as Harrisburg, PA
• Seventh Grade: Four-day, three-night trip to Williamsburg Virginia (Colonial America)
• Eighth Grade: Four-day, three-night trip to Washington, D.C. (Social Justice and Equity)