Top Academics
Rigorous academics prepare students for a college-prep high school.
Academic Outcomes
Zeta Middle School students achieve top academic outcomes in NYC and New York State.
Zeta Middle Schools — New York State Test Results and Comparisons
Our academic model ensures that students build deep content knowledge, strong analytical skills, and the habits necessary for success in high school and beyond.
Class Schedule
The schedule enables academic rigor, Advisory, Z Lab + Robotics, Specialty electives, and individualized supports.
Middle school students have subject-specific teachers to dive deeply into rigorous content.
Doors open at 7:20 AM, and free breakfast is available for all students. Most days, school ends at 3:45 PM. Wednesdays are early dismissal at 12:45 PM.
After school, many students participate in Z Clubs and Z Teams, while others choose to complete homework in the Reading Room. Students may remain at school until 4:45 PM on most days (3:00 PM on Wednesdays).
Course
Exciting courses deepen student engagement with complex concepts; real-world inquiry; and diverse, high-quality texts. By 8th grade, Zeta students are ready for high-school-level work, taking Regents exams in Algebra I and Biology—and heading to Zeta High School confident, capable, and prepared.
Homework
In Zeta Middle Schools, homework deepens students’ knowledge and extends classroom learning, while strengthening time management skills. Homework is designed and assigned to help students prepare for discussion or collaborative work; strengthen analysis of data, text, and phenomena; and build independence and lifelong study habits.
Daily homework includes
- Math: Skill-building practice problems to reinforce current concepts
- Science: Content acquisition to prepare for discussions, labs, or quizzes
- English: Personalized reading skill-building aligned with students’ reading level
- History: Content acquisition, such as reading primary and secondary sources in preparation for class discussion
Homework allows class time to focus on high-impact learning: rich discussion, debate, presentation, collaborative or exploratory work, and assessments.
Individualized Support
Every Zeta Middle School student is seen, known, and supported, with an individualized approach, so every student thrives.
All learners are supported at Zeta, with tailored small-group instruction and tutoring, as needed, for:
- Special Education Students
- English Language Learners (ELLs)
- New-to-Zeta Students
Zeta Advanced Program
For advanced learners, the Zeta Advanced Program (ZAP) provides enriched coursework and special projects that deepen critical thinking, creativity, and independence.
Sample ZAP Project
Public Service Announcement (PSA) Podcast: Projects vary across grade and semester. In one recent four-week project, students created a PSA podcast focused on a social or educational issue.
- Week 1: Research and plan a topic and structured argument
- Week 2: Refine the argument and collect multimedia content
- Week 3: Produce the podcast using Adobe Express
- Week 4: Present the podcast and conduct peer reviews
Through projects like this, students strengthen research, writing, multimedia production, presentation, and feedback skills.
This is just one example of the many projects and experiences students explore in ZAP.
