Students are introduced to the writing process and will focus on 6+1 Trait Writing: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, citations. Students will also become acquainted with the research writing process. Students will use literary works as a vehicle for writing assignments. Composition A focuses on the basic five-paragraph essay and introduces students to analytical writing, while Composition B develops analysis and introduces critical theory and includes a short research writing project. Composition A involves multi-cultural literature, while Composition B explores the concepts of the effects of science and society on human life through a variety of novels.

Students explore American literature from pre-Colonial times to the present day through this course. American Literature A focuses on pre-colonization until the Civil War. Students explore the philosophical, historical, and literary movements of Native Americans, Puritans, the Revolution, Romanticism, the American Gothic movement, and the Civil War. Major works include The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. American Literature B focuses on the post-Civil War period to the present day. Students explore the changing face of America and study the impact and effects of World War I and the Modern Age as well as World War II and the rise of postmodernism. Major works include The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and a variety of postmodern novels including Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, and The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Students respond to the literature in both classes in a variety of formats, including formal analytical essays, creative writing of poetry and short stories, and hands-on projects and presentations.

Students explore world literature from the writings of ancient civilizations to recent history. World Literature A focuses on ancient civilizations and classical myths and traditions. Students explore the philosophical, historical, and narrative movements of cultures ranging from ancient Egypt to classical Greece. Major works include selections from Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, and Oedipus the King by Sophocles. World Literature B shifts to Europe from the Middle Ages to recent history. This section focuses on the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, European Romanticism, Modernism, and the impact worldwide of World War I and II. Major works include Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. Students respond to the literature in both classes in a variety of formats from formal analytical essays to creative writing and hands-on projects.

Students will study short stories through analysis and writing. In the analytical section, students will read and interpret short stories from authors of a variety of time periods and cultural backgrounds. They will respond to the short stories both through collecting a portfolio of stories from various authors as well as writing an analytical paper. During the writing phase, students will first practice with various elements of a short story through writing and revision and will eventually submit original works to a peer writing workshop and practice the revision process with their own stories. They will also learn to offer constructive criticism to other students and to begin critically reading others’ work. Finally, students will combine their best works from the block and will create a booklet of their original writing.

Students will study poetry through analysis, writing, and performance. In the analytical section, students will read and interpret poems from authors of a variety of time periods and cultural backgrounds. They will also explore a variety of poetic forms and styles. They will respond to the poetry both through collecting a portfolio of poems from various authors as well as writing an analytical paper. During the writing phase, students will submit original works to a peer writing workshop and practice the revision process with their own poetry. They will also learn to offer constructive criticism to other students and to begin critically reading others’ work. Finally, students will interpret poetry through performance and will participate in a poetry slam at the close of the semester.

Students explore upper level reading selections and begin preparing for collegiate level classes through higher level prompts and writing assignments. British Literature focuses on classics of English literature beginning with Old English writings and progressing through the Renaissance. Students will also explore the history of the English language and examine its development through the years. Major works include Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, legends of King Arthur and the Romantic tradition, including The Once and Future King by T.H. White, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. The second half of the class expands to literature of a variety of authors, nationalities, and time periods at a high reading level. Works include The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, and Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoevsky. Students will turn their attention to the structure of the English language, as explored from a linguistic perspective. Students also will focus on a lengthy research paper and solidify the research process in a culminating project.

Students will learn the fundamentals of newspaper writing as they produce their own Students will learn the fundamentals of newspaper writing as they produce their own SPS news publication that will be distributed to students, parents, and faculty. During the first unit, students will learn newswriting techniques and interviewing procedures. In addition, they will discuss journalistic ethics and media bias. As the semester continues, each student will write three stories: one news, one feature, and one topic of their choice (news, feature, sports, or editorial). Before layout and design begin, students will have an opportunity to tour a local newspaper and visit with reporters.

Students will learn to express actions and emotions that others might experience, as they put themselves into roles of ficticious and real-life characters. Through a series of communication activities and theater games, students will express themselves clearly and believably in various roles. As a entire class, students will read, analyze and produce one longer dramatic work (students will choose from both classic and contemporty playwrites). In addition, students will perform a series of shorter pieces, including improvisation and one-act skits.

Students will become fluent and confident public speakers as they learn the essentials of speechwriting and delivery. Students will learn how to write clear, easy-to-follow speeches of various time lengths and on differing topics. Students will deliver a series of four speeches to the class. Through a process of peer and teacher analysis, students will focus on specific improvement-points during each speech. After progressing through the speech-delivery portion of the course, students will learn basic debate format as they pick a topic to debate as a class. In teams, the students will research their position (and that of the opposing team), write solid arguments, and carry out their debate in front of a panel of faculty judges.

Students explore the literature of the 20th century following World War II in this class, focusing primarily on the subcategories of magical realism and metafiction. In this class, students will study poetry, short stories, the drama of David Ives, and two novels, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Sophie’s World by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder. Students will experience both texts and movies in the postmodern genre and will participate in a variety of responses to the works, from formal analytical essays to timelines to philosophy presentations. Students will learn the history of philosophy in this class as well, giving them a unique opportunity to visit the development of Western thought as well as to become more astute observers of their own time.

Students will study short stories through analysis and writing. In the analytical section, students will read and interpret short stories from authors of a variety of time periods and cultural backgrounds. They will respond to the short stories both through collecting a portfolio of stories from various authors as well as writing an analytical paper. During the writing phase, students will first practice with various elements of a short story through writing and revision and will eventually submit original works to a peer writing workshop and practice the revision process with their own stories. They will also learn to offer constructive criticism to other students and to begin critically reading others’ work. Finally, students will combine their best works from the block and will create a booklet of their original writing.

Students explore the breadth of Shakespeare’s writings in this class, learning about both his written works and his time period. In this class, students will study Shakespeare’s sonnets, comedies, tragedies, tragic-comedies, and histories, as well as his farewell play, The Tempest. Students will experience both texts and movies and will participate in a variety of responses to Shakespeare’s works, from formal analytical essays to developing a staging framework for a play. The class will culminate with short performances that allow Shakespeare’s works to come alive as they were originally intended.

Students learn and refine all the basic arithmetic methods involving integers, decimals, and fractions in anticipation of solving simple linear equations in the second semester. Special emphasis will be made in understanding the order of operations, factors, multiples, prime numbers, negative numbers, ratios, percentages, and proportionality. This course is about helping students to get comfortable crunching numbers. All students will be required to be able to comfortably multiply all single digit numbers and add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions.

Students now practice and apply the basic arithmetic methods learned in the first semester to solving simple linear equations and inequalities, and other problem solving situations. This class concentrates on preparing students to make the jump from concrete mathematics (arithmetic) to abstract mathematics (algebra). Students will explore various uses and types of variables, and will be introduced to exponents and roots. Graphing points and lines will also be covered as well as general introductory topics from geometry.

Students begin with a brief review of arithmetic methods involving rational numbers, along with the basic properties of mathematical operators. They will then apply these skills to operations on variable expressions, with an emphasis on combining like terms. Students then continue this progression by exploring various techniques for simplifying and solving linear equations, and applying these skills to problem solving situations in basic statistics and probability. The semester is concluded by concentrating on graphing and solving systems of linear equations and inequalities.

Students begin the semester by with multiple-step story problems involving writing and solving a system of two equations. They then move to studying the various laws and properties of exponents, with an introduction to exponential functions and their basic applications. Next, students apply these skills with operations on a variety of polynomials. Special emphasis is made on multiplying binomials and factoring trinomials. Students then move to various methods of solving and graphing quadratic functions. The semester then ends with a unit on rational and radical functions, their graphs, and their applications in statistics, probability, and geometry.

Students begin with the basics of Euclidean Plane Geometry involving points, lines, planes, rays, segments, and angles, and all the various interactions, notations, and properties associated with them. From there they begin a comprehensive exploration of triangle properties and characteristics including a unit on basic constructions and an introduction to right-triangle trigonometry. The students move on to quadrilaterals where they are also introduced to various topics and vocabulary involved with polygons in general. Finally, the students work with polygons, with an emphasis on perimeter and area, and their applications to problem solving.

This course continues with a study of polygons, but in the context of analytic and transformational geometry on the coordinate plane. After a project involving translational and rotational tessellations, the students move to a comprehensive study of circles and ellipses, along with all the vocabulary and special properties associated with them. The students then work with their spatial perception skills in a unit involving two and three-dimensional drawing techniques including orthographic, isometric, and perspective drawing, and a study of two-dimensional symmetry. This then foreshadows the following unit on polyhedrons and all the associated vocabulary and properties of three-dimensional geometry. This unit concludes with a stro