Excellence in learning is the organizing principle for the Intermediate Preparatory Academy. In combination with our challenging academic program and structured environment, our leadership curriculum and diverse student body support personal growth in the crucial middle school years. We focus on the whole person to build tomorrow’s leaders.
IPA’s unique academic program emphasizes fundamental skills while also offering opportunities for immersive learning. IPA students practice skills in reading, writing, and mathematics daily, laying a foundation for learning in all disciplines and for success in all paths in life. Immersive learning at IPA includes hands-on, lab-based, and field learning. Immersive courses integrate different subjects of study and allow students to explore real-world applications. Like NMMI, IPA cultivates leadership learning in the tradition of military education.
The IPA program aims to inspire a love of learning by promoting curiosity and facilitating engaged experiences while also developing the daily habits essential for academic achievement.
Mathematics
The IPA math program emphasizes fundamentals and prepares all students for ninth-grade math at NMMI, with capable students taking Pre-Algebra in seventh grade and Algebra in eighth. IPA students practice their math skills daily. The IPA curriculum introduces new concepts while recursively keeping previous learning active. This challenging approach empowers students to use their math skills to solve the kinds of real problems they will encounter in other STEM classes and later in their work.
Science
IPA Science promotes critical thinking. All IPA science classes center lab and field learning, helping students experience the scientific method and understand science as a human process, as well as a body of previously established knowledge. Sixth grade focuses on Earth Sciences, seventh on Life Sciences, and eighth on Physical Sciences. Additionally, the IPA garden and other major science projects create opportunities for cross-curricular learning at every grade level.
History
A grounding in the facts of world history supports student learning across disciplines. The IPA History sequence is global and chronological. It begins in alignment with sixth grade English by studying the history of the Ancient World. Students learn historical thinking by working with both primary and secondary sources and by creating and critiquing evidence-based arguments. IPA students practice their reading and writing skills daily. Though Civics is studied across the curriculum at IPA, History takes the lead in helping students understand community challenges and avenues to possible solutions.
English
IPA English students read book-length texts, including engaging and age-appropriate novels, at every grade level. With help from their teachers, students also read highly challenging shorter texts in every grade. The course sequence thematizes mythology and epic in sixth grade, drama in seventh grade, and rhetoric in eighth grade. Writing in volume leads to fluency. Revision supports reflection and hones thinking. IPA students practice their reading and writing skills daily in English and across the curriculum.
Latin
With its motto “tradition starts here,” IPA expresses the value it places on the traditions of classical education. The original interdisciplinary discipline, Latin offers lessons in history, literature, politics, and cross-cultural understanding. With a foundation in Latin vocabulary and grammar, young writers hold the keys to vibrant and clear writing in English.
Fine Arts
IPA students study music and visual arts. In keeping with the tradition of military education, IPA supports a robust band program which empowers every student to read music and lays a foundation for lifelong appreciation of music. IPA students likewise learn and practice the principles of the visual arts. The fine arts program supports wellness and nurtures creativity.
Physical Education
The IPA Physical Education program encompasses sports, wellness, and leadership. Daily movement in P.E. classes supports health and learning across the curriculum. IPA students have opportunities to visit main campus athletic facilities and to try out a wide range of sports. IPA’s extra-curricular sports operate under the direction of the NMMI Athletics program.
Leadership
Leadership learning is core to the traditions of military education. IPA students also learn the values and skills of leadership in their daily grade-level morning meeting and in a weekly leadership class. The age-appropriate IPA leadership curriculum develops in alignment with the NMMI curriculum and is supported by visits from the NMMI Cadet leadership and from members of the NMMI Commandant’s team.
During the two-week immersive block, students take one course all day every day. Immersive courses or “Immersives” integrate different areas of study around a topic, giving students a meaningful real-world learning experience. Though they privilege hands-on and field-based learning, Immersives are academic classes. Students put their skills in reading, writing, and mathematics to use and earn academic credit for their work.
All sixth-grade IPA students participate in the grade-level experience “Love Where You Live,” a deep dive into all things Roswell, from arts to agriculture to industry. Students visit sites like our local museums, local farms, the Roswell International Air Center, and the Bitter Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Typical “LWYL” assignments include calculating median, mean, and average ratings as part of the popular “Rate the Playgrounds” project and writing a “Where I Am From” poem. Students appreciate that Roswell is a good place to be from: tradition starts here!
Seventh- and eighth-grade students choose an Immersive based on personal interest. Possible course offerings include: Voices and Vistas, a deep dive into the arts and culture of Southeastern New Mexico; Flight Academy: Soaring into STEAM with Airplanes and Rockets, an investigation of the science of flight; and Outlaws, Outliers, and Spirits of Frontier New Mexico, an exploration of the history of Lincoln County. All seventh- and eighth-grade courses include out-of-town field trips. As the school grows, so will the Immersive offerings.
Though unique in Roswell, Immersives are an established form of academic programming at excellent schools around the country. Immersives are valued both for the way they foster student engagement and ownership of their own learning, and for their ability to attract excellent faculty who love to share the excitement of applied learning all year.
GRADE SIX
Math: Math 1
Science: Earth Sciences
History: Ancient World to Year 1000 CE; Civics
English: Mythology, Epic, & the Hero’s Journey
Latin: Latin 1
Fine Arts: Music & Visual Arts
Physical Education: Sports & Wellness
Leadership: Values & Skills of Leadership
GRADE SEVEN
Math: Math 2 or Pre-Algebra
Science: Life Sciences
History: Year 1000 CE to the Age of Revolutions; Civics
English: Drama (Comic & Tragic Vision)
Latin: Latin 2
Fine Arts: Music & Visual Arts
Physical Education: Sports & Wellness
Leadership: Values & Skills of Leadership
GRADE EIGHT
Math: Math 3 or Pre-Algebra or Algebra
Science: Physical Sciences
History: Post-Revolutionary to Contemporary World; History of New Mexico; Civics
English: Rhetoric (Essay & Non-Fiction)
Latin: Latin 3
Fine Arts: Music & Visual Arts
Physical Education: Sports & Wellness
Leadership: Values & Skills of Leadership
Uniforms can be purchased in-person for $10 each or online for $12 each.
