We consider the ability to use language in the written and spoken forms of the utmost importance for the college-bound student. Blue Ridge School’s English Department places great emphasis on the ability to write clearly, sensitively, and effectively. Courses focus on written instruction in the fundamentals of grammar, vocabulary development, and composition with the ultimate goal of producing thoughtful, creative, and conscientious student writers and speakers.
We also consider the ability to read, comprehend, and appreciate reputable works of literature as a skill vital to the broadening of one’s intellectual and cultural horizons in both college and later life. The English Department’s core curriculum requires students to take an English class each year. They will first learn how to approach reading several literary genres and then be introduced, during their junior and senior years, to some of the great works and authors of both our national and world literatures. The curriculum includes:
