The English program is a cornerstone of the intellectual, social, and personal growth of AIS-R students.  English courses not only provide a comprehensive range of the historical, cultural and aesthetic scope of literature from around the world, they enable students to develop their skills of communication in the English language vis-a-vis, reading, writing, speaking, listening and researching.  Through the reading and study of literature, media, non-fiction and other forms of the written and spoken word, students are challenged to think critically, develop intellectual independence, and effectively convey their ideas to others.  Instruction in grammar and vocabulary provides essential knowledge and requires the development of sound study habits in our students.

A broader goal of our department is that our students become responsible global citizens.  We foster this quality by encouraging our students to "read the world".  Exploring the human experience allows students to deepen their self-understanding, and by taking different perspectives they create opportunities to better understand the human condition, develop tolerance, learn social justice, and formulate new ways to think about their lives.

The materials chosen within both our American-based and International Baccalaureate curricula reflect a broad range of perspectives and cultural mores.  The chosen materials are well constructed and representative of all the genres and media we study.  Individual students will not necessarily find their own beliefs represented in all materials; indeed, we expect the ideas presented to challenge students to question, reflect upon and test their own ideas, and then to reconfirm, strengthen, broaden or revise their views as citizens of a multinational community.

As the high school develops its writing program across the content areas, we have adopted variations of the Six Plus One Traits of Writing Criteria and Assessment.  Six Plus One is a systematic and analytical model for assessing and teaching writing.  It helps students and teachers look at writing one part at a time.  Since writing is a complicated activity, this approach enables students and teachers to see the writing in its component parts.  Approaching writing in this way allows us to understand it as a process where the assembled parts will hopefully yield a more satisfactory whole.  In the process of writing, these parts (or traits) are the key qualities that define all strong writing whether it is imaginative, expository or argumentative.  The six traits:  ideas (content), organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions and presentation (the last is the plus one).

English Courses

English 9

Englisn 10 Literature

English 10 Composition

English 11

College Reading & Writing

English 12

IB English AI SL

IB English AI HL