Middle Division Clubs

List of 6 items.

• Debate Team

  Mondays, 3:30-5:30 pm, Room 319

  Advisor: Enrique Lopez Pino (Gr. 6 English Teacher)

  Coach: Columbia University Debate Team

  
  Members of the TSC Debate Team explore a variety of topics and generate arguments through multiple perspectives. Debating promotes critical thinking skills while improving one’s ability to persuasively communicate with clarity and precision. By crafting arguments for all sides of an issue, team members develop empathy, learning about others through research, games, and conversation in a lively, communal space. The team competes occasionally with peer schools; our primary focus is to build on both academic and life skills.

• Student Leadership Collective (SLC; Elected Positions)

  Mondays, 3:30-5:00 pm, Room 325 

  Advisor: Dr. Jason Singleton (Middle Division Director)

  
  

  Where Student Voice, Belonging, and Action Come Together

  We have reimagined Student Government at TSC to become the new Student Leadership Collective (SLC), an elected student leadership experience grounded in empathy, purpose, and community building. The SLC is more than just elections and meetings. It’s a space for elected Middle Division students to lead with care, collaborate across grades, and create meaningful change through events, true service, and student-centered initiatives. Whether you want to strengthen school spirit, improve student life, or help others feel like they belong, there’s a place for you in the SLC.
  
  

• Test Prep & Essay Writing Support (Gr. 8 Students Only)

  Tuesdays, 3:30 to 5:00 pm, Room 325
  Advisors: Andrew Barber and Michelle Perri (High School Placement Team)
  
  This class will meet after school to develop, hone, and then practice the necessary test-taking skills to be successful on the various standardized tests students will take in the fall of their 8th grade year. Students will also have the opportunity to work on developing their writing skills so they can address the various types of written submissions required.
  
  The class will cover a combination of test-taking strategies and content relevant to the tests, as well as work on managing time when taking these exams. Content topics will include, but will not be limited to, math topics such as backsolving, trigger words, and plugins and reading techniques designed to build students' ability to identify claim, warrant, and counterclaim. The classes will also involve students taking timed sections of tests.
  
  

  There will also be time allocated to support students with their essay writing process. Students will practice writing timed essays, short responses, as well as longer form essays. Students will work on some of following:

  • Continued support on an essay already in progress
  • Guidance with the brainstorming and initiation process
  • Timed essay practice

  This time is meant as a supplement to work students are doing on their own to write their essays. In order to get the most out of this experience, we will encourage students to check in with the HSP Team to confirm attendance for a specific class and identify what they would need support with during the class. The HSP Team may also reach out directly to students who they think would benefit from this support to encourage them to attend. 
  
  This class is designed to support students who are newer to taking standardized tests, but also challenge students who have already been exposed to some of the concepts described above. This class will sometimes entail additional work done outside of class. However, this class will not provide preparation for a specific standardized test.
  
  
  

• The New Roar Times

  Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30 pm, Room 319

  Advisors: Enrique Lopez Pino (Gr. 6 English Teacher)
  
  

  Calling all writers, photographers, researchers, editors, crossword puzzlers, and opiners (opiner: n. a person who likes to voice their opinion)! Do you want to write, edit, report, research, investigate, photograph, or voice your opinions? We’re looking to build a team of aspiring print journalists, photojournalists, and committed writers who want to capture current events related to the school and the world. So, if you’re interested in politics, racial justice, elections, sports, style, performing arts, studio art, science, the weather, or anything else that’s newsworthy, AND you like to write, edit, investigate, photograph, OR make crossword puzzles, then join the staff of The New Roar Times, TSC’s Middle Division Newspaper. NO experience is necessary.

• NYC Nature Club

  Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30 pm, Room 333

  Advisor: Ben Raikes (Gr. 6 Science Teacher)

  
  An ornithology and botany club, in Central Park's North Woods. For older children and with more of a focus on the ecology of one of the greatest city parks. Also, it is a community-building opportunity, fostering relationships across different grades.

• Visual Arts Portfolio Club

  Thursdays, 3:30-5:30 pm, Art Studio
  Advisor: Royce Howes (Visual Arts Associate)
  
  The Visual Arts Portfolio Club provides art education and related opportunities for dedicated Middle Division students, supporting their growth as artists, learners, and citizens. Participants engage in visual art projects and discussions and have the opportunity to assemble a visual art portfolio that may be used in the high school application process. The Visual Art Club is not only for those applying to arts high schools; it is a valuable opportunity for students to explore their own expression and creativity in visual art forms and to develop skills and understanding in the visual arts.