Department Goals

As an English department in a Catholic and Jesuit high school, ultimately, we want our students to be able to communicate in a loving and honest way with their families, friends, and communities so that Christ’s call for us to love one another will be made manifest in the world. The final assessment of this outcome will be the lives our students lead.

As an English department in a college-preparatory school, we also want our students to read, write, speak, and listen so that they will gain admission to the colleges of their choice and competently compete there for the degrees of their choice. The final assessment of this outcome is in the results of the standardized tests the students take and the colleges they enter.

Upon the completion of his course of studies in English, the Jesuit High School graduate will be able to:

  1. Write to communicate competently for a variety of purposes and audiences.
  2. Communicate using standard English grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.
  3. Locate, select, and synthesize information from a variety of texts, media, references, and technological sources to acquire and communicate knowledge.
  4. Read and engage intellectually and sympathetically with literature from various societies, eras and cultures.
  5. Decipher complex material through the use of a broadly developed vocabulary.
  6. Perform above the national average on the ACT, PSAT, and SAT.