With one teacher teaching both English and history in our fifth grade, the subjects are fully integrated for these students. In one project, students research a historical question and then write an essay explaining their research and personal conclusions. Faculty teaching grades 6 - 8 continue to be intentional about a cross curricular approach to reading and writing. For example, a recent eighth grade English project invited students to write a story and create a multimedia element in our FabLab to go with it.

Sixth Grade Literacy Skills class is strategically designed to ensure that every sixth grader is fully prepared for the rigors of middle school and beyond. The course provides reading instruction that compliments what students are learning in English class. True to the core philosophy of the department, all Skills lessons and projects are differentiated for various levels of reading–the assignments “don’t have tops to them.” As one teacher put it, “We aim high and provide scaffolding as needed.”

Ninth grade English—Introduction to Discourse and Literary Analysis―introduces students to academic writing, modern rhetoric, and the principles of literary analysis in a class that averages 14 students. Tenth grade English—Introduction to American Literature—builds on the previous year and focuses on critical reading and thinking skills. By the end of 10th grade, the goal for each student is to evaluate a text, explore related thematic topics, demonstrate logic and organization in writing and speaking, and write clearly and coherently. “We meet these goals in part because our small class sizes give every student ample opportunity to speak, ask questions, and get plenty of personal feedback.”

Juniors and seniors are offered a rotating selection of semester-long thematic courses, representing a range of diverse perspectives and historical periods. The seminars collectively specialize in academic discourse and deep literary analysis, allowing students to regularly practice process writing, Socratic questioning, and poetry memorization. Each semester, students compose a portfolio of their best writing in multiple forms: descriptive, narrative, expository, and argumentative – culminating in a forty-page final portfolio the spring of their senior year. These seminar classes prepare TGS students for college-level course work more organically and effectively than an AP English class, which focuses on preparing students to take the AP test. Every student who has taken the AP English exam since we’ve been offering  the seminar model has passed the test.

Outside of their regular English classes, students can focus on creative writing and/or journalistic writing through electives. We offer creative writing, starting in Middle School with two electives. In addition, students in grades six through eight may take Middle School Publications, which produces both a monthly newspaper and a literary magazine, as well as the Middle School yearbook. Upper School students may choose from at least three creative writing electives as well as independent studies to work on their writing one-on-one with an English teacher or our poet-in-residence. Upper School Journalism students produce the school newspaper The Gregorian Chant as part of a class. Outside of class, Upper School students may choose to be on the staff of our award winning literary magazine, The Collective. All Upper School students participate in our Poetry Out Loud competition, and all students in grades 5-12 have opportunities to participate in literacy-related Friday Explorations.

Modeled after writing centers found on many college campuses, The Gregory School Writing Center is a dedicated space that assists students in all phases of the writing process. Our student editors apply and interview for their positions and are highly trained and closely supervised by dedicated faculty members. All students in grades five-12 may meet with a writing center staff member. In addition, our Writing Center hosts countless Friday Explorations, providing additional opportunities for students to write, read, and learn from each other, our faculty, and guest writers.

With over 15,000 volumes, The Gregory School has a huge library for a small school. In addition, we have outstanding electronic resources for research, high powered databases such as JSTOR and Gale, as well as lots of periodicals. Our library has an intentional outreach program to engage TGS students and community, including a student-recommended book display, activities around the Tucson Festival of Books and Banned Books Week, an annual Scholastic Book Fair, and other special events to keep students coming back.