Reply to Are your middle and high schoolers required to read books?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]WSHS pyramid (middle school and high school) and my children have definitely read whole books in English class: Fahrenheit 451, To Kill a Mockingbird, Wonder. They also have completed projects in which they independently read books and presented or wrote about them. [/quote]

I agree about WSHS.

My WSHS kids, on both the AP track and the honors track, all read books regularly in their English classes.

The English department at WSHS is strong and picks a selection of mostly quality literature.   My kids have read everything from Shakespeare and older literature like Wuthering Heights, to classics like The Crucible to contemporary social commentary like Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, To Kill a Mockingbird.  There is a good variety of short stories, modern works plus independent reading.  Their "choice" reading lists have a nice variety to appease a very broad range of sensibilities from parents, everything from a Jane Austen novel to Kite Runner (parent approval required), and they allow students to pick their own titles not on the list, with approval.  For example, one of my kids didn't like any of the 10th grade "identity" book offerings on the list, so he found an autobiographical historical fiction coming of age story written by a WW2 vet of his experiences in the battle of the Pacific, right after high school.  The teacher approved books like this, which giave the kids more owership in their reading, and also helps avoid parent controversy about the booklist suggestions.  My other kid just read one of the book list titles.

I have helped with book review for WSHS as a volunteer, and am very comfortable that under the current leadership at the school and within the English department, WSHS students are receiving a very comprehensive and thoughtful exposure to literature in their English classes, not just in the advanced classes but in the standard honors track as well.

I cannot speak to Irving except to say that when my kids attended pre covid, the former head of the English department also provided a nice foundation in literature.  From the post above though, it sounds like since the retirement of that teacher, the English department has losened its rigor.[/quote]

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