UNIS students love to write. Writing is at the heart of the English program in the Junior, Middle and High Schools. All students write almost every day, in school and at home, in script and with the computer, in draft and for publication. Students shape their experiences, imagination and reading into literary responses of stories, poems, plays, memoirs and essays. They learn to write with clarity, grace and accuracy by practicing, reading, listening and editing. They study grammar throughout the process.
Reading fine literature inspires fine writing. Students at all grade levels are exposed to classic and contemporary literature by women and men from different countries and cultures. The curriculum includes works by North American, European, Australasian, African, Asian, Latin American, Caribbean and Native American authors.
For Junior School children in kindergarten through grade four, language arts is at the center of their studies. Through listening, reading, writing and speaking activities in all of their subjects in Junior A through Junior Four, they begin to explore the world of academics and to learn about the real world beyond the borders of the classroom.
In the Middle School in Manhattan, Middle One and Middle Two English for grades five and six are taught together with Humanities as part of a common Core program. In Queens, the courses are taught separately, but in both programs there is frequent integration of themes, reading materials and writing assignments across the disciplines. Middle Three and Middle Four English are taught as separate subjects, but often the texts and assignments reflect the Humanities themes in the seventh and eighth grade years.
Tutorial House
students follow a year-long program in Tutorial One and Two, the ninth and tenth grades. The curriculum also includes an elective tenth grade drama course, film course and journalism course. In the eleventh and twelfth grades, Tutorial Three and Four students select from a series of semester-long literature and writing courses as well as courses in drama, film studies, journalism and independent study. UNIS offers all levels of International Baccalaureate English with programs designed for native, near-native and non-native speakers. Many students elect to take double English one or more semesters of their last two years of High School. Students may also enroll in the International Baccalaureate theatre arts course as part of the eleventh and twelfth grade IB program or the UNIS electives program.