8th Grade

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” — Romans 12:2

Dear Parents,

My hope and prayer for this year is to teach your students how the world around them works together through the design of our Creator. 

We live in an amazing world created by our God and studying his workmanship is a great way to learn about his glory and character. There are amazing opportunities to study science beyond middle and high school and my hope is to prepare your students with the tools they need to succeed in this classroom and any path they choose to take after they leave. 

In addition to their education, my prayer is to show them the love of Christ and how it looks to imitate Him in our everyday lives for His glory.

Blessings,

Mrs. Meghan Bradley
8th-Grade Homeroom, MS/HS Science
mbradley@centraliachristianschool.org
 

2026-27 Curriculum

BIBLE
Mrs. Bradley
Students will read through the New Testament and learn the major themes, events, and characters for each book, giving them a “big picture” of God’s story! Notes, Scripture memorization, and quizzes will make up their Bible grade.

ENGLISH
Mrs. Bronis 
This course will largely focus on historical fiction and foundational American authors to complement the US History course and prepare students for their spring D.C. trip. Students will learn how to close read any text, critically examine the author's messaging, and ask open ended discussion questions to encourage their peers to think deeply about the text. Students will strengthen their creative and expository writing skills by working through the writing process for a variety of writing purposes (to inform, to persuade, to entertain). They will also maintain a Writer's Notebook where they will take note of literary elements, track a text's thematic development, and draft their written responses/ essays. Class literature includes:

• The Witch of Blackbird Pond
• Johnny Tremain
• Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, etc (A Washington Irving author study)
• Rifles for Watie
• Selections from Norton’s Anthology of Nature Writing

In addition, students will read and complete reading logs for eight additional books of their choice throughout the year (two books per quarter). Reading logs will be completed weekly in their writer's notebook, to be checked each Monday. Books must be approved by the instructor and be an appropriate grade level challenge.

US HISTORY:  
Mrs. Montgomery
This course provides an overview of US history from colonial days to the Gilded Age, focusing on the people and events that changed America. We will be using the BJU American Republic textbook, Mystery of History Vol. 4, primary source documents and other supplemental resources. In addition to participating in class discussions and daily readings, students will keep a detailed notebook of facts, people, and events. They will also participate in creative class projects, including poetry and famous speech recitation and a research project related to our 8th-grade East Coast trip in the spring.

MATH
Mrs. Eacker
Saxon Course 3 (PreAlgebra) helps students master the four operations working with whole numbers, fractions and decimals in order to be ready for the demands of Algebra I in high school. Most students take pre-algebra as 8th graders.

Saxon Algebra I Students who consistently maintained an 88% or higher during Course 2 (7th grade math) on the 7th grade math final may be placed in the algebra class. The focus of this class is to learn to think analytically, write and solve multistep problems using traditional algebraic equations. Students must be willing to not only get the right answer but to prove their answer is right. Algebra I earns students high school math credits.

For both classes, problems should be done in pencil; self-corrections done with red pen. For students achieving 88% or higher on a test, problems are reduced. Otherwise, students will do the daily requirement, usually 20-25 problems although this can vary depending on the lesson. Grading: 10 points per daily lesson, 100 points per test and per quarterly notebook check.

SCIENCE
Mrs. Bradley
This science course is designed for students to discover God’s orderly world in which God created (Gen. 1:1; Col. 1:16). This course is set on a rotational schedule in which students enrolled receive a Life Science credit one year and an Earth and Space Science credit the alternative year. We will pull material from Exploring Creation with General Science by Apologia along with other supplemental resources. Students will keep a scientific journal in which they record material, report their findings from lab work, and grow in their understanding of scientific language and thinking.

In addition, students receive half a science credit for nature study. In this portion of the course, students practice careful attention to and appreciation of the created world around them as a way to grow more personally connected to the Creator. They will experience weekly study of an element of nature by way of nature walks, a reading of informational narrative on a nature element, as well as an integrated art element. Students will keep a nature study journal full of sketches, watercolor paintings, and personal reflection and summary for the objects studied.
 

2027 East Coast Trip

Dates: Sunday, March 28 - Sunday, April 4, 2027

Itinerary: Williamsburg / Monticello / Washington DC / Gettysburg

For more information, check out our 2027 DC Trip flyer.

Sports
Cross Country
Girls Volleyball
Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Knowledge Bowl

Elective Options
Lifetime Fitness/PE
*Other courses may include woodshop, culinary arts, study hall, leadership, videography, or worship arts 

Middle School Teaching Team
Mrs. Bradley - Homeroom/Bible/Science mbradley@centralichristianschool.org
Mrs. Bronis - English Language Arts hbronis@centraliachristianschool.org
Mrs. Montgomery - History rmontgomery@centraliachristianschool.org
Mrs. Eacker - Math seacker@centraliachristianschool.org