English
At Lawrence Academy, English teachers want to know what students think. Teachers want to help students develop, support, and explain their point of view and then use the same skill and care when considering the views of others.
The NGP English teachers offer classes in which students "do the work" of good writers, good thinkers, and good readers every day. In those classes, students are called on to practice six skills – reading, writing, thinking, speaking, listening, and organizing. From the Ninth Grade Program to Senior Seminar, AP English Literature, and Honors Writing, the English curriculum provides students with opportunities to discover what literature, forms of writing, and universal themes mean the most to them and how to begin acting on that self-knowledge.
All students must take at least one English course during every term of every year they are at Lawrence Academy. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors take yearlong, comprehensive courses (the Ninth Grade English Program, the Sophomore Combined Studies Course in History and English or Junior English Seminar) covering grammar, usage, syntax, literary genres, and the process of composition. Seniors take the yearlong Senior Seminar, the yearlong Honors Writing class, or Advanced Placement English, with placement in these courses to be determined by the department. To be eligible for honors in the junior year, a student must be recommended to this course by his sophomore teacher, have a B+ average or higher in the sophomore year, and be deemed capable of the demands of honors work. An incoming junior new to the school must also submit a graded writing sample from the past year and have SSAT’s above the 50th percentile. To be eligible for honors in the senior year, a student must meet the following criteria: a teacher recommendation based on department expectations for honors level work, a B+ or higher in Honors Junior English Seminar and an A- or higher in Junior English Seminar, and an SAT Verbal of 550 or higher.
Any junior or senior may choose to take the Honors Writing elective in the fall and winter as a second English class. Any junior or senior may take the spring Honors Writing elective as a second English class if s/he has taken the fall and/or winter Honors Writing elective. However, placement in a second English class is not guaranteed, as preference is given first to students recommended for those courses, and, second, to seniors who want to take a second English class.
Juniors and seniors may request to take an independent study course in English only in addition to a regularly scheduled English course. They may not take an independent study course in English instead of a regularly scheduled English course.
