H Hardie,  English Department Head

617-696-4470/4478 Ext. 5223       hhardie@miltonps.org

The English Department offers a required four-year sequence of comprehensive courses, each of which combines the study of writing, speaking, literature, non-fiction, reading, grammar, and language.  All students must pass four years of English in order to graduate.  

The English Department Program is designed to develop and improve critical thinking, written expression and oral communication skills through in-depth analysis, revision, refinement and reflection of the tools necessary for success in college and the workplace. The MHS English curriculum blends traditional texts with investigations of contemporary literature and non-fiction. Students will master an appreciation of universal themes and develop an understanding that language paradoxically binds and divides humans. In all four years, students will further develop and refine the ability to rationally and persuasively support claims in both writing and oral communication. In writing, students will develop and support a solid claim/position, make authorial choices regarding structure, organization, style, diction, persuasive techniques and syntax and engage in multiple, substantial revisions of their own work. Students will craft writing for a variety of purposes and audiences including personal reflections, academic essays, and major research projects. Similarly, students will also craft and refine oral communication skills in a variety of settings for a variety of audiences.  Vocabulary expansion and development will also be a major focus each year. All grade 9 through grade 11 courses, particularly honors sections, are designed to prepare students to be successful if they choose to take Advanced Placement English Language and Composition as a junior and/or Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition as a senior.