In 2025 there are two upper school intensives that have middle schoolers in them. There are 13 middle schoolers that have had to adapt to being in these combined intensives.
Eighth grader Lidia Pauk is in the Winter Stock intensive, which is a class with two middle schoolers and six upper schoolers. She said that for the first few lunches she sat with one of her friends in upper school, but for the later days in the first week she ate lunch by herself in the theater.
Although she knows the people in her intensive, Pauk would want a close friend. In the first week of intensives she only got to eat with the middle schoolers once a week. When the middle schoolers ate with other middle schoolers, the upper schoolers still had class, so the middle schoolers missed class time.
Pauk said because she had to miss class “it’s not really sustainable,” but said, “I think it definitely helped.”
Still, Pauk encourages students to take a combined intensive in the future.
“I really think that it’s a good opportunity to get used to having a trial run about what high school is going to be like,” Pauk said. “It’s been a little bit rough at times, but I do think it’s a good test and way for me to learn how to get to know people that I don’t know very well.”

Fine arts teacher Leroy Timblin shared a similar idea about the upper school experience.
“It gives them a great opportunity to plug into the upper school and have that experience of what upper school’s gonna require,” Timblin said.
According to Timblin, the middle schoolers have adapted well to being in an upper school intensive, but at first it wasn’t as easy.
“It was a little rough for them, mainly because they’re not able to see their friends during breaks and recess,” Timblin said. “Some of [the upper schoolers] have taken the responsibility of being older to heart.”
The expectations for middle schoolers in Winter Stock are high.

“I just treat them all as upper school and expect the middle school to jump up to our level,” Timblin said.
Seventh grader Grant Waterman, in the Choreography intensive, hasn’t struggled to adapt to being in a combined intensive with 11 middle schoolers and seven upper schoolers.
“I’m pretty social, and I know some of the high schoolers in it, so it wasn’t really hard for me,” Waterman said.
Waterman believes that if you think you will enjoy the intensive, you should take the intensive.
“If it’s something you love to do and you enjoy it, then you should go for it,” Waterman said. “You shouldn’t miss out on an opportunity just because of something that’s a little scary.”
Snow School is another intensive where middle and upper school students interact. They both have lunch with their grades and interact less so they were not included in this article.