The Upper School English curriculum, building off the foundation of skills students develop in the Middle School, challenges students to closely read more complex texts, write effectively for various audiences and purposes, participate meaningfully in seminar discussion, collaborate on large-scale group projects, perform before their peers with confidence and composure, and practice critically thinking, all with increasingly less direct supervision or explicit instruction, and with more precision, sophistication, and nuance. Besides asking students to continue to hone necessary, transferable communication skills, students receive support and guidance as they become more independent, self-sufficient learners. Beyond this, our ardent hope is to cultivate in students an appreciation of literature, language, and the humanistic arts while encouraging them to question and discover both what is important to them and to the world in which they live.
English courses in 9th and 10th grade embrace a wider humanities approach, taking into consideration what students may be studying in their History 9 and History 10 classes when selecting certain texts or designing integrated projects. Central to the school’s goal of providing an appropriately demanding and innovative college curriculum are the skills of reading and analysis. Students learn about the various modes, purposes, and styles of writing through exposure to a broad range of literature and learn to evaluate and develop arguments with evidence. Students also learn the technical vocabulary and research skills they need to read and analyze effectively in order to become confident interpreters of information.
In the 11th grade, students can choose to take Standard English 11, a non-integrated Honors English 11 course, or an integrated Honors English / History course called American Studies. In all 11th-grade courses, students study American literature to accompany their study of U.S. history and, through reading and writing for a variety of purposes and in various forms, engage dynamically with texts, and write to discover the power of language and to communicate precisely.
For 12th grade students, the English Department offers trimester-long electives at both the standard and honors levels, allowing students to pursue emerging interests in English. Past electives have ranged from choices such as “Magical Realism” to “Black Literature” to “Creative Writing” to “The Graphic Novel.” In all Upper School grades, multiple teachers might teach the same course, and each teacher’s curriculum will vary given a common understanding of the core skills, concepts, and expected common assessments.