New York City Lab Middle School for Collaborative Studies is among the most selective and sought after middle schools in the city. It's a place where bright kids work hard and excel, but also have fun and enjoy plenty of opportunities to express their creativity.  The school has a stellar record of sending graduates to the city's most competitive high schools with more than half its 8th graders typically going on to specialized high schools.

Founded as a 6-12 school, in 2007 Lab Middle School split from the high school known as the NYC Lab School for Collaborative Studies.  Though the two schools maintain a common vision of collaborative and inclusive learning, they are run by separate administrations, with separate admissions policies, teaching, and support staff.

Building and location:  Lab Middle School is located in the upscale Chelsea neighborhood.  The school shares facilities, including the gymnasium, auditorium, and library, with Lab High School and the NYC Museum School inside a large, square building that parents have described as drab, fortress-like, and institutional. The building was in the midst of an upgrade during our visit.

Most of Lab Middle School is housed on the fourth floor with a few classrooms scattered elsewhere.  Classrooms are cramped but brimming with student work, a testament to all the creative and interesting projects teachers assign throughout the year.

The school has a computer lab filled with desktops, but very few laptops for kids to use in classes. Lab Middle is slated to install SmartBoards in many classrooms during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years.

School environment and culture:  The atmosphere is cozy and laid-back, and since its formal split with the Lab High School, younger in tone. "We still share a building and lots of the same values with the [Lab] high school, but we want to have our own middle school identity and culture" said Principal Megan Adams, a former assistant principal at Lab who took the helm in 2007. "Middle school should be a different experience than high school."

Seventh and 8th graders can leave the building for lunch, but need to stay within defined street boundaries.  Sixth graders stay on the premises for the school's dedicated lunch period, but have the options to go to the library or participate in a lunchtime club.

Kids are calm and focused in classrooms and in hallways, where there always seems to be a group of students sprawled out on the floor working on projects.  Teachers deliver lessons in a relaxed, conversational tone; students seem to be comfortable enough to crack a joke or chat with teachers for a few moments at the end of the period.

Teaching and curriculum;  Academics are challenging, but rigor is balanced with creativity and fun.  To get shy or reluctant kids to speak more in Spanish class, students sing Spanish songs in unison.  "It gets them to practice with pronunciation without feeling self-conscious," said Adams.  In an art class, kids were chatting, happy and on task finishing their quilting projects that were slated to be showcased in a neighborhood gallery.

"The school gives you a lot of time to think and experience things," said an 8th grader, who also said that he spent about two hours on homework daily.  "I've never had a bad teacher here.  They all try to help you a lot," he added.

Group work and projects that get kids to delve deeply into topics are staples of instruction. An 8th grade study on the period of westward expansion culminated in student-authored picture books with such titles as ‘Conflict of Greed:  The Mexican-American War" and "Sam Houston and Santa Anna."  Sixth graders dissect the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is typically studied in high school, by learning how to ask and answer different levels of questions ranging from "level one," which only has one possible answer to a "level four," which touches on universal themes that don't relate directly to the text.

In math, students must articulate their problem solving. In Algebra, which all 8th graders take, a lesson on patterns had students quietly plotting coordinates on a graph in response to the question, "How can we represent patterns multiple ways (e.g. graphs, tables, equations) and how are the different representations related?"

In addition to core classes, the school offers art instruction and an extensive band program.  In one music class we saw students playing brass and woodwind instruments; electric guitars and a full drum set. Spanish is the only foreign language taught.

Family involvement: Super-involved parents raise money to support teams and instructional programs, volunteer their time, and even furniture like the couch in Adams's office.

Special education:  The school is a pioneer in the inclusion model of special education. Two of the six homeroom sections on each grade are Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT) classes. At some point every student will be assigned to a CTT section. "It's crucial to our mission that everyone experience CTT," said Adams. There are roughly 20 -24 students per grade identified as needing special services, according to Adams.

After school: The school fields many sport teams including track and field and cross-country teams supported by the New York Road Runners Club, flag football, soccer, basketball, table tennis, golf, softball and baseball. The Beacon Program sponsors a daily recreation program onsite until 6 p.m that also runs on Saturdays and during the summer. (Laura Zingmond, May 2010)