Academics
Middle School | Gr. 5–8

Community

In Middle School, students begin to explore and understand ways in which they can play a role in shaping their communities. Whether planning a bake sale to benefit refugee children, initiating a discussion about character or simply offering encouragement to a friend, Gill Middle Schoolers actively involve themselves in the life of the school and strive to make significant contributions to the larger world. 

As the parent of a GSB student, you too will become an essential part of our authentic and welcoming community. We invite all of our parents to participate in the life of the school, contributing in ways that they find particularly interesting or meaningful. Every parent is automatically a member of the Gill St. Bernard's School Parent's Association. 

Character Education

At Gill, character education is not a separate course or program, but rather an essential aspect of the school’s culture and curriculum. In Middle School, the focus on character awareness helps students better understand the effect of their actions and learn to make informed and thoughtful decisions. In addition to the informal and spontaneous conversations about character that take place every day among faculty and students, our Middle School has specific initiatives to help our students become more thoughtful and engaged members of the community:

  • Virtue of the Month
    Each month, the Middle School holds “town meetings,” where students and faculty discuss happenings in the school and focus on a specific value or “virtue of the month,” such as honesty, integrity or respect. As a community, we take time to think about, not simply what those values are, but how they might play out in our daily lives. For the next month, we actively build upon and revisit those initial discussions in our assemblies, classes and day-to-day interactions.
  • Middle School Community Statement
    The Middle School Community Statement was drafted by eighth-grade students to distill the school’s mission statement and honor code. It reads, “As a member of the GSB community, I will respect and honor my peers, strive for excellence and help my community grow & flourish.” The Community Statement is prominently displayed in the front entrance of Conover and is re-affirmed each year by every member of the Middle School.
  • Community Service
    Our students drive our community service efforts. This year, Gill Middle School students raised over $13,000 for nine different organizations.

The World is Our Classroom

Our beautiful Home Winds campus, which lies directly across from our main campus, serves as headquarters for all of our outdoor learning programs – apiary, farm, garden and trout streams. Through Home Winds, our students have exceptional opportunities for hands-on, outdoor learning, as well as for activities such as cross-country running, fly-fishing, hiking, painting and photography.

Gill St. Bernard's School

Gill St. Bernard’s is a private, coeducational day school for students age three through grade 12, located in suburban New Jersey. Each of the three school divisions provides a vigorous, meaningful and age-appropriate curriculum, and all students benefit from the environmental learning opportunities that exist on our 208-acre campus.