English

The English Department helps students learn to communicate effectively by developing skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing. Courses acquaint students with literary works from a range of periods and cultures beginning in the 9^th grade with a broad global focus using interdisciplinary approaches. Students then progress to either Narrative Studies or Western Literature in the 10^th grade. In the 11^th and 12^th grades, students select from among AP English and a variety of literature, public speaking, and writing-focused courses.

The goals of the English program in reading, carried out in all course offerings, are to develop students' awareness of the themes and styles of literature from around the globe and to make connections among different cultures; to enable students to read any text to determine main ideas, subsidiary points, and supporting evidence; at advanced course levels, to recognize authors’ techniques and strategies and begin to incorporate them into their own writing; and to find intellectual and aesthetic pleasure in reading.

The goals of the English program in writing, carried out in all course offerings, are to teach research and techniques such as precise word choice, effective sentence structure, logical transitions, unified organization of ideas, and clarity of expression that enable students to become powerful communicators on personal, academic, and public levels.