The English Department has designed a comprehensive curriculum aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Each year, students engage with both fiction and nonfiction texts and develop their writing skills through argumentative, informative/explanatory, and narrative essays. Our primary objective is to cultivate strong reading and writing abilities, ensuring students are prepared for both college and career success. We emphasize critical thinking and effective communication throughout the curriculum.
In the 2015-2016 school year, we introduced Advanced Placement (AP) Literature and Composition for 12th-grade students. Starting in the 2016-2017 school year, we plan to expand our AP offerings with Advanced Placement Language and Composition for 11th-grade students. These AP courses provide students the opportunity to earn up to three college credits per course while still at Davies.
Additionally, the department hosts an after-school Writing Center to support students with writing assignments across all subjects.
At Davies, the Board of Trustees and staff regard reading as a crucial skill for all students to become successful citizens. Students identified as reading below grade level through our screening process will be required to participate in Reading classes each year until they achieve the appropriate reading level. For those assigned to Reading classes, Personal Literacy Plans (PLPs) will be developed and discussed with parents for any student who tests more than one grade level below on second-tier assessments administered in class.
Progress in comprehension skills, vocabulary development, phonemic awareness, and fluency will be monitored. Additionally, students will focus on enhancing their sentence and paragraph structure and writing skills. A variety of instructional strategies will be employed, including computerized comprehension and vocabulary programs and resources from Science Research Associates.
Students are expected to complete weekly homework by reading from teacher-approved texts and reporting on their reading progress. In grade 9, Reading classes may occur every day, while in grades 10-12, they may be scheduled for one period on alternate weeks, contingent on standardized pre- and post-testing results.
The Social Studies Department provides students with a rigorous, academically grounded program that leverages technology and targeted instruction to cultivate analytical and writing skills essential for success in college and professional environments. The curriculum is designed to enable students to critically engage with both historical and contemporary issues. Furthermore, students will learn to assess primary source documents for their relevance to specific interpretive challenges, as well as their reliability and significance in historical context.