Each elementary and middle school is named after an important figure in Lexington's history.

Like many middle schools, both Diamond and Clarke operate in an academic team system, in which each grade is broken down into smaller groups of common teachers and students.

Diamond and Clarke have built a cross-town rivalry bridging academics and athletics.

[13] Academically, both schools offer a comparable curriculum comprising several core subjects in addition to a wide range of electives.

Students are required to take courses in math, science, English, and social studies, each of which follows its own track.

In math, students are required to take courses ranging up to algebra, with placement and level being determined individually.

In social studies, students are required to take courses focusing on ancient civilizations, world geography, and civics, in 6th, 7th and 8th grades respectively.

In foreign languages, students have the option to take a sequence of courses in French, Spanish, or Mandarin Chinese.

Top students in Spanish have the opportunity to visit Costa Rica, or in past and recent years, Spain, as part of a language and culture immersion trip abroad.

[14] Led by coaches Sarah Doonan at Diamond and Joshua Frost at Clarke, Lexington's middle school math teams are renowned for their successes and mutual rivalry in competitions such as MathCounts, the NEML, the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), and in the Intermediate Math League of Eastern Massachusetts (IMLEM).

Two Lexington natives have won the Mathcounts national championship: Jonathan L. Weinstein in 1991 and Alec Sun in 2013.

William Diamond Middle School has also won many second and third place titles at the Science Olympiads over the past few years.

Although Diamond does not have a formal student-run government, the Student Council determines spirit days, fundraisers, and other matters.

[16] The school is named after the local pastor Jonas Clarke, who was present at the standoff at Lexington Green shortly before the shots that started the Revolutionary War.

There are five deans: Scott Kmack, Habiba Davis, Michael Horesh, Patrick Larkin, and Linda Bartlett.