Upper School
Find your path. Make it yours.
The Upper School at Morristown Beard School gives students the opportunity to take ownership of their learning, explore their interests, and discover what they are capable of. Rigorous academics, personalized opportunities, and meaningful connections with teachers and peers create an environment where students are challenged to think deeply, take intellectual risks, and grow with confidence.
At MBS, students are known as individuals. They are encouraged to ask questions, pursue what matters to them, and make choices that shape their experience. Whether they are diving into advanced coursework, conducting independent research, creating in the arts, competing on a team, leading in the community, or pursuing an idea of their own, students have the freedom and support to make their Upper School experience their own.
Student Centered
At MBS, students have the freedom to explore their interests, pursue new challenges, and shape an Upper School experience that reflects who they are and what they hope to discover. A wide range of academic, co-curricular, and extracurricular opportunities gives students space to grow both inside and outside the classroom, while faculty members know them well and serve as teachers, mentors, and trusted guides. In our collaborative, coeducational community, students learn to listen, contribute, advocate for themselves, and engage meaningfully with others. As their interests and goals evolve, so does the support and opportunity around them.
The Best of Both Worlds
At MBS, students experience the best of a rigorous academic environment and a close-knit community. They are challenged to think deeply, take intellectual risks, and pursue excellence while surrounded by teachers and peers who know and support them. With opportunities to explore interests across academics, the arts, athletics, leadership, and community life, students can challenge themselves without having to choose between achievement and belonging. The result is an Upper School experience that gives students room to grow, discover what matters to them, and make the most of their time at MBS.
Upper School Hours
Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Upper School Office Hours
School Year:
Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Summer:
Monday-Thurs.: 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
On most school days, the MBS campus is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The Academic Program
MBS offers a rigorous and engaging academic program across the arts, humanities, world languages, sciences, and mathematics. Throughout the curriculum, students develop the skills to think critically, communicate clearly, collaborate effectively, and approach complex questions with curiosity and purpose.
Students have opportunities to challenge themselves through honors courses, Advanced Studies, Advanced Topics, Advanced Placement courses, independent studies, and a wide range of electives. With so many pathways to explore, students can pursue their interests, discover new areas of strength, and build an academic experience that is uniquely their own.
Upper School Signature Programs
Our Signature Programs are an important reason why our students report extremely high levels of preparedness through college and beyond. We’re confident that your child will enjoy the intellectual journey through these classes. The majority of these courses feature small class sizes, allowing for true student-teacher engagement and collaborative, team-based assignments and assessments.
Advanced Studies and Advanced Topics Program
Year-long, discipline-specific Advanced Studies (AS) courses provide rigorous alternatives to standardized AP curricula. Advanced Topics are seminar-style courses emphasizing college-level reading, discussion, and interdisciplinary thinking.
Earned Honors Model
The EH model offers students the opportunity to opt into earning honors credit in a course. Choosing whether to pursue Honors in a class means our students can decide what sort of learner they would like to be in a particular subject, rather than being told what sort of learning they are capable of. The School holds the student accountable to a corresponding set of standards and criteria.
Humanities Program
An integrated curriculum that asks students to place the study of History, English, and World Languages in dialogue, recognizing that these disciplines allow us to interrogate and make sense of the human experience.
Independent Studies
Students design and complete individualized courses exploring interests beyond the traditional curriculum.
Interdisciplinary Concentrations Program (ICP)
Students pursue an area of interest beyond a single discipline through one of several pathways:
1. Arts and Innovation
2. Data Analysis and Research Methods
3. Ethics, Leadership, Justice
4. Sustainability.
MBS Centers for Learning
Decades of academic research highlight the importance of both meaningful teacher-student engagement and highly experiential learning in the intellectual growth of young people. Accordingly, Morristown Beard School has thoughtfully created four Centers for Learning to best engender the high-level development of several essential skills in your child.
The Center for Academic Writing
The Center for Academic Writing (CAW) acts as a support system for students, and, in concert with our philosophy, allows the students, themselves, to take on an important leadership role on campus as writing tutors in the center.
The Center for Teaching & Learning
The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) empowers all students to better understand themselves and their own learning styles while, at the same time, developing students’ self-advocacy and self-efficacy.
The Center for Quantitative Reasoning
The Center for Quantitative Reasoning (CQR) is a support center providing a place for students to strengthen foundational skills, receive extra help in their classes, and explore interest in mathematics that goes beyond the classroom.
The Center for Innovation & Design
Opened in 2019, the Center for Innovation & Design (CID) provides more than 8,000 square feet of flexible and innovative space where students design, build, and problem-solve as they engage in multidisciplinary projects.
Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular Programs
The Upper School experience extends well beyond the classroom. Students have the opportunity to explore their interests, develop their talents, build meaningful relationships, and contribute to the MBS community through a wide range of co-curricular and extra-curricular experiences.
Whether performing on stage, competing on a team, traveling abroad, leading a club, serving their community, or pursuing an independent project, students find opportunities to challenge themselves and discover what matters to them.
These opportunities include:
- Performing and Visual Arts
- Athletics
- Global Studies
- Upper School Clubs and Activities
- Community Service
