Middle Schools are unique in that they are organized educationally by teams for grades 6 through 8.  A Team is typically made up of the core classes of English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies with integrated Special Education allowing for pull-outs as needed.  Elective teachers may also be part of a Team.   Teaming helps students build community and encourages collaboration amongst teachers regarding integrating curriculum and enhancing student support. This follows the middle school concept as explained by the Association for Middle Level Education 

Educational pedagogies vary greatly and multiple modalities are utilized throughout the day, but inquiry-based learning, with an emphasis on collaborative work, is becoming more of the preferred learning methodology.

The Ed Specs Space Program is based on 3 Teams per grade, for a total school population ranging from approximately 950 to 1,050 students. This corresponds with the high end of the Board of Education’s design enrollment guidelines for Middle Schools. 

For schools with smaller design enrollments, the number of Teams per grade will decrease and may include multi-grade Teams or two-teacher Teams. When planning new buildings on existing campuses, the quantities of classrooms and offices will need to be adjusted along with right sizing the larger support spaces.

These Ed Specs are also applicable to Intermediate Schools, which may include grades 6 to 8, or just grades 7 and 8, and some schools with “Intermediate” in their name may still follow a teaming model.  For those legacy schools that are organized as intermediate schools, without teaming, new buildings on existing campuses should address the specific adjacency needs for that school.