English is a cornerstone of our curriculum. At every level, from seventh grade on, your Thomas Jefferson (TJ) English class is built around reading and discussing great literature. In the course of a year, you will read many books that are widely accepted as classics (including plays by Shakespeare) plus a selection of modern works. (Check out our sample reading lists.) You’ll learn to appreciate fiction, poetry, drama, and philosophy, and you will learn to express your thoughts about the books in a coherent way, backing up your ideas with evidence. Debates that started in English class have often kept going at the lunch table and beyond!
Learning to write well is supremely important for your success in college and beyond. In addition to essays and other writing assignments, you will gain the benefit of TJ’s unique daily writing-skills program called Outside Reading. Four days each week, you will read a passage in an extra book assigned by the teacher and then write a short summary of it. The teacher will check your English and give it back for corrections (if any). This steady practice will eventually make you a skilled writer – a rarity these days. TJ’s graduates often find themselves in demand as editors for others who do not have the same command of English.
Besides reading and debating literature and performing some passages that you have committed to memory, you will attend six play productions each year at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis along with the rest of the TJ community. Other theatre experiences around St. Louis are offered as weekend options, and you may also take part in one of the play productions that our students put on. The TJ trips abroad often involve excursions to the theatre, especially in London.
Both the junior- and senior-year English classes are at the Advanced Placement level. Juniors take the English Literature and Composition AP exam; seniors, the English Language and Composition exam. International students typically start out taking English as a Second Language, for an extra charge; in a later year, they are mainstreamed into regular English classes.