Team Independence puts a focus on responsibility, respect, and courage; the team motto.  We foster students' responsibility for behavior and work, students' respect for staff and one another, and students' courage for maintaining high academic and behavior standards.

Eighth Grade Language Arts integrates reading and writing into a combined 100 minute block which meets daily.  Grammar, spelling, and vocabulary are incorporated through the writing; students will have writing practice through regular assignments, paragraphs, and essays.  Students will work with various types of writing as well as experience different kinds of literature:  short stories, non-fiction, fiction, drama, poetry, and myths.  Oral presentation will also be a component of the class.  Students' preparation for ISAT testing will be on-going.  Developing strong academic students who communicate well is the goal of Team Independence.