At West Essex Regional, each student must successfully complete a minimum of one full year of English at each grade level. The most critically acclaimed titles and authors throughout history, as well as current works, are represented within the required courses. The goal of the program is to develop life-long independent readers, effective writers and public speakers. The curricula have been developed to fulfill the requirements of the New Jersey Department of Education’s Core Curriculum Content Standards in reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing. Our goals include: preparing students for the rigors of standardized testing, extending the application of literacy throughout the disciplines, setting a foundation for academic success in a college setting, and fostering a love of reading. In addition to the required courses, West Essex is proud to offer students a variety of English electives beginning in Grade 9.
The use of the media center is encouraged through MLA style literary research projects, with particular attention to authentic research and the use of parenthetical citations. Our libraries and the computer labs offer the students many opportunities to practice efficient, critical, and comprehensive application of Internet sources and on-line data bases. The goal is to train our students to become proficient in effective searching, website evaluation and the ethical use of the Internet. We continue to provide our students and faculty with current materials, books and magazines for recreation as well as education, and hope to encourage life-long reading and an appreciation of the library.