By Joyce Wang ’20, Middle School Editor

As the school year comes to an end, middle school embarks on three separate Capstone trips. Capstone has been a popular way for middle school students to end their year and I was curious to understand why that is. Having come to Newark Academy in the 9th grade, I was not able to attend any Capstone trips because the high school doesn’t offer those as an option. Instead, the upper school is presented with choices such as June Term, immersion, or time to complete extended essays and senior projects. Is the upper school missing out from the option of having a Capstone trip? After discussions with the NA community, there seemed to be an array of opinions about the structure of the concluding weeks to the school year. A majority of the students who’ve attended or are attending Capstone feel like the current system in which Capstone is exclusively for the middle school is the best option. However, new ideas also emerged, such as extending Capstone to the upper school or eliminating Capstone. This article will explore these varying opinions and seek to stimulate a potential revamp or reinforcement of the Capstone program here at NA.

Capstone should be extended to high school.

Capstone is one of the most anticipated weeks of each middle schooler’s academic year, and rightfully so. After having focused on individual grades and academic achievements for the past year, Capstone allows the class to unite as one. As Tony Oshuntolu ’23 puts it, “Capstone is so fun. I get to bond with my grade and spend quality time with my friends and teachers.” Monica Zhang ‘21 reminisces about Capstone, adding that “I liked Capstone because it was a great way to finish off the year as a grade, but in the upper school we don’t have that same kind of uniform trip where we can all bond.” We spend almost 180 days cooped up inside a classroom and barely have the opportunity to interact with people and discuss topics outside the constraints of school. The only times I think I’ve engaged in community projects this year was during my completion of community service hours. Furthermore, it’s essential to create a motivator for students’ hard work throughout the year. While June Term may function as something to look forward to, I’ve found that, as a freshman especially, I was not able to get any of my top choices because upperclassmen had first choice. Having Capstone be extended to the high school would increase the options, and thus the chances, for students to feel excited about finishing up the year and also reduce possible burn out.

Capstone should stay just the way it is now.

At this academically-driven school, Capstone doesn’t seem to resonate well with the schedules of high schoolers, especially upperclassmen. As Lori Sun ’20 says, “I think the middle school let it happen because the curriculum in the middle school is more relaxed and provides students with more opportunities to engage in these experiences whereas it’d interfere with exams in the upper school.” Most upperclassmen are taking at least one IB class, and about fifty percent of the class of 2020 is pursuing the IB diploma. The diploma entails at least six exams across the junior and senior year, not including AP exams, and the completion of an extended essay. It seems too much to demand that these students then embark on a trip far from home for the next two weeks instead of what is done now, which is to give them time to complete their extended essay.

Furthermore, the high school offers a variety of projects around the same time as Capstone. The most prominent one we know of is June Term. June Term has for the last several years been a trademark program at NA. For the most part, high schoolers enjoy their June Term experiences and would agree that it would be a significant loss for the school to eliminate it. We should instead focus on maintaining the high quality of the variety of summer projects already offered to the upper school and keep Capstone just the way it is now.

Capstone should not be a part of the school year for middle school.

While popular, Capstone may have received the reputation of being just fun and games with fewer educational takeaways. Yes, middle schoolers visit museums and galleries. But when asked what they could remember, former middle school students could only recall vague phrases or just shake their heads. It is important to note that the jump from freshman year to sophomore year here at NA has been historically difficult. Where this challenge stems from has been met with a majority of opinions that resonated with freshman year being simplified to account for the transition between middle school and high school. Whether eliminating Capstone would change the difficult transition further within the upper school can be a different discussion. But it may be beneficial for the middle school to get some experience at the end of a school year, other than Capstone, in independently driven academic projects to better prepare middle schoolers for high school.  

Just having navigated through these varying ideas about Capstone and summer projects here at NA in general, it seems like the middle school and high school are mostly content with how the school year closes out. A common thread throughout the ideas is to increase summer options for both the middle school and high school. As long as NA is continually supporting students in trying new endeavors, maybe high schoolers can have the option on embarking on a Capstone-like trip and middle schoolers can choose to stay and work on an academic, athletic, or intellectual project.