English Department

Scope & Sequence

Placement for freshman English is based on a ranking system that takes into account previous student performance in ELA courses and standardized objective and essay tests.  The top-ranked students are placed in English 1XL, an accelerated course of freshman English. These students have demonstrated special proficiency in the skills identified in the Common Core State Standard (www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy) for reading literature and informational texts, writing in argumentative, informative/explanatory, and narrative modes, and “the conventions of standard English grammar and usage.”  

Subsequent enrollment in accelerated and advanced placement courses is contingent upon students meeting minimum grade requirements as an initial eligibility criterion.  Students currently enrolled in an XL or AP course must earn a minimum grade of B+ for the fall semester in order to enroll and must maintain that level of performance throughout the spring term to remain eligible.  Students in a regular English course must earn a minimum grade of A and maintain that level of performance throughout the spring term.  With exceptions for extraordinary circumstances, students meeting these requirements who request an XL or AP course will be admitted.

Goals & Philosophy

The goals of a Jesuit High School education are expressed in its “Profile of a Jesuit High School Graduate at Graduation,” which identifies five essential qualities—becoming Open to Growth, Intellectually Competent, Religious, Loving, and Committed to Doing Justice—in the formation of “leaders of competence, conscience, compassion, and commitment to God in service who will work for justice and quality of life for all.”  The English Department addresses each of these qualities in its curriculum.

In addition, the English Department curriculum is designed to meet the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (ELA), which have been established “to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life” (CCSS Initiative), and to address the elements of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm, a method of instruction derived from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola that that engages the student at a personal level and encourages subsequent application in the student’s life.