The English Department faculty initiates engaging, relevant, and challenging learning experiences to empower students to set and reach their educational goals.  Critical reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills are integrated into weekly lessons.  Teachers guide students in developing rich and diverse reading lives, encouraging them to grapple with complex texts to reach their own authentic interpretations; students are then challenged to substantiate their unique claims with evidence and reasoning.  Teachers encourage collaboration during lesson activities to nurture academic and social development and to promote engagement.

Students write extensively; they build skills by approaching writing as a process, and by collaborating with peers and faculty to revise and edit their work.  In addition to their core English course, all ninth grade students take a semester-long composition course; this course involves an intensive study of grammar and exposure to key modes of writing required throughout high school.  All students in grades 9-11 are assigned a faculty writing mentor to help support them through high school writing experiences.  Teachers differentiate instruction to meet the needs of individual students; honors students are further challenged within an integrated educational environment.  The two Advanced Placement courses are offered to 11th and 12th grade students.

Reading and writing experiences provide the basis for communicating ideas, forging connections between individuals, building compassion, and understanding universal themes.  The English Department faculty strives to encourage students to develop an appreciation for and an understanding of learning and literature.