The middle school years are exciting, unpredictable, and promising for students. During these years, they undergo major changes in their physical characteristics, mental abilities, and emotional stability. Encore classes ensure that students experience additional hands-on, participatory, meaningful, and engaging curriculum experiences that are challenging, integrative, and exploratory. Students can explore courses that they may want to specialize in before they get to high school. Students are also engaged in hands-on activities and learning experiences that go beyond the core subjects of English, math, social studies, and science. Exploratory classes give the students the opportunity to move around and learn in a different way.

Middle school students are changing rapidly during this time in their lives, and that means their interests and plans change as well. By changing courses often, students get the opportunity to explore many different areas that might interest them. This allows students to explore areas that may provide for future career options, basic life skills, and activities they may participate in for fun as adults. Courses, such as family and consumer science or photography, can teach students new skills and lead to future career opportunities. Encore and exploratory classes include health, physical education (PE), music, art, Spanish, second language, Family and Consumer Science (FACS), Career and Technical Education (CTE), Information, Communication, Technology (ICT), and humanities.