Character. Scholarship. Excellence.
Academics
Middle School
Student Life
Adventure Club
The Adventure Program offers fun outdoor activities for Middle School students throughout the year. Activities range from rock climbing, horseback riding, hiking, and canoeing. The goals are to provide opportunities for students to develop independence, self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-discipline, and to develop an appreciation for the outdoors and the environment.
Chess Club
Open to all proficiency levels, students in the Chess Club meet weekly to learn fundamental rules, tactics, strategies, and history of chess, and develop valuable skills and virtues, including critical and creative thinking, pattern recognition, memory, responsibility, discipline, attention span, impulse control, and teamwork. Local and travel competitions are offered.
Honor Choirs
In addition to being part of the Chorus class during the school day, Middle School students may audition for the Middle Tennessee Elementary Honor Choir and the Middle School Honor Choir. These auditions are generally held in October, and students who are selected join with other honored students from all over Middle Tennessee for a grand concert in January.
Greer & Plato Societies
BGA is home to two literary societies, the Greers and the Platos. Through the years, it has evolved into an academic and athletic rivalry that is central to BGA's day-to-day school life. Students from each society challenge each other throughout the year in a variety of activities, culminating each spring with the Middle School Tug of War. One Greer and one Plato Representative per grade, in conjunction with the Student Council, organize the competitions.
Play Productions
The Middle School presents two plays each year. Each of these productions is a unique opportunity for students who are interested in the performing arts to come together and hone their acting skills. A casting call is held in mid to late September for the fall play, which is performed in November. A casting call for the spring play is held in February and culminates in the spring production that is performed in April on the lawn outside the Fine Arts Building.
Quiz Bowl
Middle School Quiz Bowl is offered throughout the school year to students in grades 6-8. The Quiz Bowl team competes in various tournaments against teams from other middle schools in the Middle Tennessee area. Teams compete in groups of four to answer questions from the academic subject areas (social studies, science, English, math, art, music) as well as current events and pop culture. Practices are held every Friday after school, and students can join at any time.
Vanguard Rock Band
Vanguard is an after-school, commercial music ensemble that performs on and off campus year round. Students audition, and are expected to learn their music prepared for rehearsals. Students who play in Vanguard have a variety of musical backgrounds, which makes this a unique group. The ensemble plays a variety of musical styles, including country and rock n' roll, and has performed at several local professional performance venues in Franklin.
Student Council
Central to student life is the leadership of the 8th Grade Student Council. Comprised of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, the role of this group is to represent the student body, promote understanding between students and faculty, and encourage interest in school activities. The Student Council leads assemblies, promotes community service, organizes social activities, and puts on special events such as the Fall Carnival and Greer-Plato competitions.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a group of students that meets regularly to learn about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as explicated in the Bible, to fellowship with one another, and to pray for others needs in our school and community. A student does not need to be an athlete or attend a specific church to participate. F.C.A. also provides occasional opportunities to meet with other students throughout the Nashville area for fellowship, worship, and service to others.
BGA Honor Code
The Honor Code is one of BGA's most treasured and oldest traditions, adopted in the school’s first year. In 1889, students were asked to sign the pledge on their test papers. Respect for the Honor Code remains a crucial expectation of each student at BGA. The code is predicated on the assumption that both students and faculty are honorable and may be trusted. Each member of the BGA community must accept his or her personal responsibility to the Honor Code.
Math Competitions
Students can participate in the Math Olympiad, an international competition of five mini-contests held during class time from November to March. Honors Algebra 1 (8th grade) students are eligible to participate in the Interscholastic Math League competition, a series of four high school contests, and the Tennessee Mathematics Teachers Association Math Competition, a state-level high school competition held each April.
The Cannon
The Cannon is the digital arts magazine of the BGA Middle School. The Cannon includes original student writing, including prose and poetry, along with a variety of artwork forms of varying genres and media, and may, on occasion, include musical contributions. The Cannon showcases the creative gifts of BGA's middle school students and allows these young artists the opportunity to have their work published to share with the community.
Robotics
The Robotics Club is a fun way for students to practice problem solving, engineering, block coding, and teamwork. The Robotics Competition Team uses Lego Mindstorms EV3s to prepare for the regional First Lego League Competition, which takes place in the fall. The Robotics Club meets in the spring to build Lego Mindstorms EV3 robots and attachments, program the robots to move autonomously, and perform challenging missions.
Junior Thespian Society
The International Junior Thespian Society is sponsored by the Educational Theatre Association and is an honor society for theatre arts students in grades 6-8. Students are inducted after achieving 10 points through participation in plays, work backstage, classroom productions or volunteer projects. They meet during club activity period and occasionally after school. Students who matriculate to the Upper School may transfer 10 of their points to the Upper School chapter.
Page Turners
Students who read at least 2,250 pages (1,000,000 words) can be members of the Middle School reading club, the Page Turners. Once a month, this group celebrates reading with a party in the Middle School library. Each party has a different theme each month; we have popcorn parties, ice cream parties, and more. Students have the opportunity to share what they are reading and give book recommendations. Members also have a "Jeans Day" once a quarter.
Junior Classical League
Junior Classical League (JCL) supports the study of the Greek and Latin languages and Greek and Roman culture. At the state convention we race our chariot (built by members), compete in olympika events (discus, javelin, aqueduct relay, catapult) and in certamen (Latin quiz bowl), costume contests, speaking and academic competitions, and arts contests.
Linguistics Cohort
Computational linguistics is a relatively new field devoted to hacking language by analyzing and decoding patterns into methodical and logical patterns that can be modeled on a computer. If you enjoy solving riddles and puzzles, Rubik's Cube, Towers of Hanoi, Cracker Barrel peg games, tricky math/science problems, you may enjoy Linguistics Cohort. We compete at the BGA Fall Linguistics Olympiad, the state Olympiad at MTSU, and the national competition, NACLO.
Dance Club
The Middle School Dance Club is a group dedicated to learning different types of modern dance, including jazz and hip-hop. This dance group meets after school hours twice per week and conducts informal performances. No previous dance experience is required.
Harpeth Campus
Glen Echo Campus
Phone Numbers
Main: (615) 794-3501
Lower: (615) 567-2002
Middle: (615) 567-9013
Upper: (615) 567-8513
Admissions: (615) 567-8463
Lower: (615) 567-2002
Middle: (615) 567-9013
Upper: (615) 567-8513
Admissions: (615) 567-8463
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A co-educational, college preparatory school for K-12 students in Franklin, Tennessee.
