Students Connect, Explore & Soar at Nature Hill

Nature Hill Intermediate School offers challenging and unique academic opportunities that aren't available elsewhere.  From multiple foreign language courses and best-in-class music and arts programs to career and technical education classes, Nature Hill Intermediate is the school to help your child soar.

Keep reading to learn more about how Nature Hill Intermediate helps kids connect with their peers, explore new subjects and interests, and challenge themselves to soar in their academics.

5th-6th Grade Structure at Nature Hill

Students in 5th and 6th grade attend their core academic classes of math, literacy (reading and writing), science, and social studies in their homeroom pod.  The 5th-grade pod is on the first floor and the 6th-grade pod is on the second floor, both in the same wing.  The 7th and 8th-grade core classrooms are located in the opposite wing.  This approach means that 5th and 6th graders are only interacting with their grade-level peers, in their pod area, during their core academic classes.

In both 5th and 6th grade, students also have access to several "Explore Classes" including music classes which are taught in classrooms throughout the school.  Explore Classes are a combination of required courses and student-selected courses that allow students to explore new content and more challenging topics.

Find course descriptions for our core academic courses and Explore classes, by grade-level, in the 2025-2026 Program Planning Guide.

Once students reach 7th and 8th grade, they will receive an individual schedule of classes with multiple teachers for their core academic classes and Explore classes.

More Gradual Transition to Higher Coursework Expectations

The 5th-8th grade structure provides our younger students with a wide variety of classes and more challenging curriculum, taught by content-expert staff, delivered in the grade-level pod environment.  This approach helps our younger students transition from an elementary school environment to the higher level course expectations of 7th and 8th grade.

3 World Language Classes in 5th & 6th Grade

Students in 5th and 6th grade will participate in all three world language classes of Chinese, German, and Spanish each year.  Each class meets for 9-weeks, giving students the opportunity to explore all three languages before selecting one language to continue learning in 7th and 8th grades.

Choice of 4 Different Music Classes

Students in 5th and 6th grade can choose from four different music classes including performance-based band, choir, and orchestra, or general music.  Students can select just one music class for the entire school year or can double-up and join two of the performance-based classes.

Collaboration Opportunities

Nature Hill Intermediate band students have several opportunities during their time at Nature Hill to collaborate with the Oconomowoc High School band program students and directors.   Listen to these Nature Hill and Silver Lake 8th graders perform along with the Oconomowoc High School Wind Symphony at the Oconomowoc Arts Center.

Career & Tech Ed Classes in 5th & 6th Grades

5th-graders also get to explore several career and technical education classes including art, introduction to design thinking, digital communications, or exploring computer science.  In 6th-grade, students will explore art, automation and robotics, entrepreneurship, and technology and design.

So Many Clubs to Join!

Nature Hill students can participate in a huge variety of clubs and athletics.  Visit our Activities & Clubs page to learn more about the clubs available for our 5th-grade students.

Beginning in 6th-grade, students can begin participating in school athletics.  Those opportunities expand once students reach 7th and 8th grade.  Visit our Athletics page to learn more.