English
Creating Ardent Readers and Stellar Writers
From the earliest years, our long-term aim is to instill in students a love of reading and writing that grows in breadth and depth over time and benefits them throughout life. Literacy is not simply learning to read in the early grades—it's a developmental process that expands into reading to learn, analyzing complex ideas, evaluating evidence, and communicating effectively across disciplines. The BASIS Curriculum helps students build the knowledge and communication skills that support academic achievement, college and career readiness, and a lifetime of learning and delight in reading and writing.
Early Learning
Building Language and Literacy Foundations
Early Learning students begin building foundational knowledge for language and literacy: developing phonological and phonemic awareness, practicing using basic English grammar, completing simple writing projects, and working in small reading groups to strengthen reading comprehension and fluency.
The Joy of Discovery and Imagination
Literacy is about more than learning to understand information. Through stories, imaginative play, and early writing experiences, students discover the joy of language and begin to see themselves as creators who can express their own ideas across a variety of forms.
Primary Program
Independent Reading in Language Arts
Language Arts in the Primary Program, co-taught by a Learning Expert Teacher and Subject Expert Teacher pair, strengthens the strategies students need to read with increasing independence. Continued instruction in phonics and comprehension skills is complemented by analysis of audience, purpose, literary devices, and text features of fiction and nonfiction writing.
Awakening Creativity Through Language Arts
Students’ confidence in reading and writing increases as instruction highlights vocabulary in context, as well as root words and affixes so students can discern the meaning of new words independently. They also craft personal narratives and poetry, and they share their perspectives in class discussions that enrich everyone’s understanding.
Middle School
Developing Critical Reading and Writing Excellence
Middle school English courses provide a strong foundation for success in writing, reading comprehension and annotation, literary analysis, rhetoric, and grammar. Students examine a range of literature in depth, including Shakespearean drama, short stories, novels, and poetry.
Analyzing Texts and Making Arguments
Expert teachers guide students on stages of the writing process and prepare them for excellence in high school. Literary analysis of texts strengthens essential academic skills, such as identifying textual evidence to support arguments, incorporating evidence from multiple sources into writing and discussion, and comparing interpretations.
Studying Language, Rhetoric, and Composition
Middle school English includes a comprehensive study of grammar and syntax in oral and written language. In grade 8, students begin studying rhetoric and composition of speeches, essays, preparing them for more advanced high school work.
High School
Advanced Analytical Writing with Sources
Grade 9 students take two English courses: Honors English Literature and Honors English Language. These courses deepen students’ experience analyzing narrative structures and strengthen their ability to synthesize ideas from sources into their writing. Students may then take AP® Language & Composition. AP® Literature & Composition, or both.
Communication Skills for School, Work, and Life
Through seminars and class discussions, students participate in the world of ideas while developing problem-solving, collaboration skills, oral communication, and debate. As they prepare for and reflect on lessons, students independently read and analyze texts, generate questions, formulate and support arguments with evidence, and draw conclusions.
Exploring Texts Through Advanced Study
Seniors take Capstone courses, including one in the humanities. Expert teachers make these college-level, often interdisciplinary courses accessible, and students are excited to explore specific genres, eras, or cultures and conduct unique research. Past offerings include “Monsters in the Mirror,” “Justice in Literature,” “Linguistics,” and “Lyric Poetry and Music.”
