Adolescent Experience

During this time, young adults are seeking to understand their place in society and how they can make a difference in the world. Continuing to build on the sense of justice and fairness that began to develop in their elementary years, young adolescents are often drawn to causes that involve high ideals, and prefer projects that require action and meaningful contributions. Each adolescent student grows into leadership roles and performs meaningful work within the MSB community, and beyond.

Personal growth is an important integrated part of the Adolescent Experience program, which is designed to usher healthy, self-confident, well-prepared young adults into the next phase of their development. We believe children learn to be adaptable through supporting them in solving their own problems, rather than solving problems for them. With the help of a supportive adult and increasingly in adolescent years, their peers, your child can frequently find the solution that is best—personally, and for the community.

We have high expectations for your child and believe that, given experiences to reinforce their confidence and abilities, they will do their very best for a lifetime. The success of this approach is apparent in the 20% Project, modeled after the Google policy of the same name, in which Adolescent Experience students choose a topic of interest, and spend the year developing the idea, conducting research or experiments, and producing a presentation of their work.