Courses

The 9th Grade English/Language Arts curriculum is specifically designed to prepare students for college and career by focusing on developing essential skills like building knowledge, analyzing ideas, delineating arguments, collaborating, and communicating effectively. Aligned with the Maryland Career and College Ready Standards, this course provides students with exposure to a wide variety of complex literary and informational texts, media, and critical reading, writing, listening, and speaking tasks, while allowing teachers the flexibility to differentiate instruction and select texts (including an anchor text and a choice text per unit) to best meet the unique needs and interests of all learners. The curriculum prioritizes depth of instruction, focusing on key Priority Instructional Standards essential for future readiness, and includes regular on-demand narrative writing opportunities for formative assessment and creative expression.

The 10th Grade English/Language Arts curriculum serves as an extension of 9th grade skills and is rigorously designed for college and career readiness by building students' capacity to analyze ideas, delineate arguments, collaborate, and communicate effectively. Closely aligned with the Maryland Career and College Ready Standards, this course immerses students in a range of complex texts, media, and challenging reading, writing, listening, and speaking tasks, while emphasizing a depth of content instruction over breadth. Teachers have the flexibility to differentiate instruction, offer extensions for advanced learners, and select texts (including an anchor text and choice text per unit) that best suit students' needs and interests, all while prioritizing the key Priority Instructional Standards essential for future success. The curriculum also incorporates quarterly, on-demand narrative writing assignments intended as formative assessments to track students' growth as writers and foster creative expression.

Seminar Level 1 course uses the research-based LIFT curriculum to provide foundational language and literacy instruction for newcomer Multilingual Learners at the Entering (Level 1) proficiency stage, as defined by the WIDA ELD Standards Framework. Instruction is asset-based and highly scaffolded, focusing on the five WIDA standards (Social & Instructional, Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies) to develop students' ability to understand and use words, phrases, and chunks of language with significant visual and graphic support across the four key language uses: Narrate, Inform, Explain, and Argue. Students will build essential academic and social language skills across the domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, preparing them for success in grade-level content classes.

Seminar Level 2 course continues to build essential language and literacy skills using the LIFT curriculum, targeting Multilingual Learners at the Beginning (Level 2) proficiency stage, as defined by the WIDA ELD Standards Framework. Instruction moves beyond basic survival language, focusing on students' ability to understand and produce simple sentence structures and use common academic vocabulary, still with substantial contextual and graphic support. The class addresses the five WIDA standards (Social & Instructional, Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies) to strengthen comprehension and production in the four key language uses: Narrate, Inform, Explain, and Argue. Students will increase their independence in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, enabling them to engage more actively with modified grade-level content.

Seminar Level 3 course supports Multilingual Learners at the Developing (Level 3) proficiency stage, utilizing the LIFT curriculum and aligning with the WIDA ELD Standards Framework. At this level, students focus on transitioning toward greater independence by understanding and producing complex sentences and a wider range of academic vocabulary with moderate linguistic and contextual support. Instruction integrates the five WIDA standards (Social & Instructional, Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies) to deepen students' functional language skills in the four key language uses: Narrate, Inform, Explain, and Argue. Students will practice using English in more nuanced ways across listening, speaking, reading, and writing, enabling them to comprehend and contribute meaningfully to slightly modified grade-level academic tasks.