The study of English at Palmer Trinity School seeks a point of balance between the broad, pragmatic use of language as a tool of communication and the humanistic, values-based appreciation of works that are, in Matthew Arnold’s words, “the best that has been thought and said.”

 

Upon graduation, the student of English should be able to:

Members of the English Department are mindful of the ways in which knowledge can be a product of worldview and culture; nevertheless, the student who has completed the department’s curriculum should know:

 

All courses reflect the recognition of a degree of practical preparation in the study of grammar and vocabulary relevant to the ACT, SAT, and other forms of standardized testing.  With the exception of Advanced Placement courses, however, instruction is primarily focused on reaching departmental learning objectives -- from which such testing skills should emerge.

With regard to placement in the Upper School, for students studying at the college preparatory, honors, and Advanced Placement level, the department considers the level of mastery a student demonstrates in the skills and knowledge domains described above.  In the high school, at the college preparatory level, students will show developing or sufficient performance across the range of learning domains; at the honors level, students will have shown sufficiency or mastery across those domains; Advanced Placement students should show mastery across most domains.  

Outside of the classroom, the Department of English seeks to support students in their pursuit of reading, writing, speaking, and publication through a variety of co-curricular groups, clubs, activities, and courses: the Center for Writing, book clubs, visiting writers, participation in school assemblies, the literary magazine Green Sky Blue Grass, the Raptor yearbook, Broadcasting and Journalism classes, Arts and Literature Night, and entry into a variety of writing contests and selective writing programs.