Last weekend, I found myself trying to explain the word “rizz” to my dad. It was difficult to convey the meaning of the word because it is not just a straightforward definition — it is tied to a...

Two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward spoke to the community about her work in an event organized by the Upper School English Department on May 19. Ward’s visit began with a virtual meet-and-greet...

Last year, Mimi Offor ’21 read hundreds of textbook pages, spent hours upon hours studying for exams and burned through more than a few packs of pencils during her history course, The World and Europe...

Alexa* let out a sigh of disappointment as she trudged out of the English department office with a page of edits in one hand and a laptop in another. After meeting with her teacher about an upcoming...

I sat at home with my book, eyelids drooping as I desperately tried to finish the assigned chapter. The book told the same story, with the same characters and the same words. So why did reading it for...

Every time Rodney* ’19 received an essay assignment in his sophomore English class, he would go home and share the prompt with his tutor, who would write the essay in front of him on his own computer...

“I mean…I hear we’re pretty good,” English teacher Jeremy Michaelson said, laughing, when we asked him and English teacher Jocelyn Medawar: “You guys have to know the mutual reputation that you...

Paging through the curriculum guide the spring before freshman year, Diego Ayala ‘18 was disappointed with what he found. Ayala, who said he prefers the social sciences, couldn’t sign up for honors...

In eighth grade at Harvard-Westlake, there is one quote that every student will read in Harper Lee’s "To Kill a Mockingbird." It is Atticus Finch telling his daughter Scout, "You never really understand...

Stephen Thompson has joined the upper school English department this fall, having completed his doctorate in English requirements in English from Cornell University earlier this year. Thompson will teach...