About Us

The central goal of the GA English Department is to create confident, independent learners.  We do this by emphasizing critical writing, reading, and thinking skills.  Students are expected to write in a variety of genres, from creative forms to informal responses (writing to learn) and formal analytical essays.  They read widely in classic and modern literature that span a range of diverse voices, eras, and genres.  They learn to discover ideas, interpret what they read, and share with their peers.  Collaboration is key to the classroom; students learn from each other.  Often the format is student-centered, where students are in charge of their learning.  They learn strategies for reading, writing and discussion, as well as self-assessment and process.  Writing typically includes exploration of ideas, planning, drafting, sharing a draft, revising, editing, and proofreading.  Grammar and vocabulary are taught at all grade levels as needed. 

The department is also committed to visual and cultural literacy.  Students learn to read a “text,” whether it is a poem, story, play, novel--or painting, photograph, advertisement, or film.  They are invited to make connections not only among texts they read in class, but also outside class to other disciplines as well as to relevant material from their own experience.  Finally, our students are expected to be proficient with laptop technology.  In a rapidly evolving world, this means not only expert in word processing and email, but also in finding, evaluating, and using outside materials from the internet.  Students learn to be independent learners by approaching English as an inquiry where they are expected to be agile thinkers in a wide variety of print and electronic media.