Our students read with wonder and write with precision
The English curriculum provides a comprehensive literature survey and a sustained, K–12 practice in the skills that make everything else possible: reading carefully, arguing precisely, and revising iteratively.
Philosophy
The question the English department asks about every unit, every assignment, and every assessment is: what intellectual work is this asking students to do?
The standard in Clarebourne’s English classrooms is specific: every piece of writing should contain an idea worth arguing for, defended with evidence, and open to honest revision. That standard applies to a fourth-grade personal narrative and a twelfth-grade seminar paper alike. Faculty hold students to it in a way that feels like an invitation rather than a demand.
The result is students who can write — not in the sense of producing grammatically correct sentences, but in the sense of having something to say and knowing how to say it.
Sequence and scope
Lower School (K–4) — Building the foundation
Students in grades K–4 develop foundational literacy through explicit phonics instruction, guided reading, and daily writing practice. By Grade 4, students are writing in multiple genres — personal narrative, informational, and persuasive — with attention to audience and purpose. Read-alouds and independent reading are central to every grade’s weekly schedule.
The Grade 4 Author’s Chair — a semester-long project in which students develop, revise, and publicly present an original written work to an audience of students, faculty, and parents.
Middle School (5–8) — Developing an argument
The Middle School English sequence moves students from personal to analytical writing. Students in Grade 5 begin working with literary texts as objects of analysis — not just comprehension. By Grade 8, students are producing multi-source research essays, close readings of primary documents, and original arguments in response to literary and non-literary texts.
The Grade 7 Socratic Seminar series — eight weeks of student-led discussion on texts selected by the department, assessed on quality of contribution and quality of listening, not frequency of participation.
Upper School (9–12) — Mastering the craft
The Upper School English sequence is built around extended close reading and argumentative writing. All students complete the Grade 9–10 core sequence before choosing from elective seminars in Grades 11–12. Advanced Seminars in English are offered for students seeking work at a college level; AP Literature is available as an alternative path.
The Senior Thesis — a 15–20 page independent research paper completed in the first semester of Grade 12, presented orally to a faculty panel in January.
Sample texts and electives
English department faculty of each unit to serve specific analytical and writerly purposes, and they change as the discipline and the culture changes. What follows is a representative sample of the kinds of texts students encounter.
Grades 5–8
To Kill a Mockingbird · The Giver · Persepolis · The House on Mango Street · Selected essays by James Baldwin · A Raisin in the Sun · Animal Farm · Primary source documents (Declaration of Independence, Seneca Falls Declaration, selected speeches)
Upper School elective seminars (Grades 11–12)
- The American Short Story
- Contemporary Non-Fiction
- Literature of Migration & Displacement
- Crime Fiction as Social Criticism
- Writing the Self: Memoir & Personal Essay
- Shakespeare: Four Plays
Faculty
The English department at Clarebourne is a department of writers and readers, not just teachers of writing and reading. Faculty are expected to maintain their own practice — whether that means publishing, participating in writing groups, or staying engaged with contemporary literature — because we believe students learn writing from people who write.
We hire for intellectual seriousness, for the ability to give honest feedback without discouraging the attempt, and for the conviction that every student who arrives at Clareborne is capable of writing something that matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Clareborne offer AP English?
Yes. AP Literature & Composition is offered in Grade 12 as one of two advanced English pathways. The other is the Clareborne Advanced Seminar in English, which we believe offers a more rigorous independent research experience for students intending to study humanities at the college level. Students choose between them in consultation with their advisor and the department chair.
How much writing do students do?
Significantly more than is typical for comparable schools, particularly in terms of the feedback students receive on that writing. Faculty in the English department return written comments — not just grades — on all major assignments. We consider this non-negotiable.