English
Our English courses equip students to read critically, write clearly, speak effectively, and create thoughtfully. Students encounter powerful texts from both classic and contemporary writers, write often both to discover and to present discoveries, and participate in a literary community committed to asking good questions of texts and to growing in analytical skills.
Course Path
Students take two foundational courses in their 9th and 10th grade years. During their 11th and 12th grade years students choose one literature seminar and one writing seminar each year. Students have the option to take AP English Language & Composition during their junior year and AP English Literature & Composition during their senior year.
9th | Introduction to Literature and Composition | |
10th | Literature and Composition | |
11th | Literature Seminars Contemporary World Literature Detective Fiction Hyphenated America Women Writers AP English Language & Composition | Writing Seminars Nature & Technology Passions and Pastimes The Art of Rhetoric Writing about Film Poetry Writing workshop |
12th | ||
AP English Literature and Composition | ||
Course Spotlight
Nature & Technology
In this course, we will encounter writing and other narrative texts that explore what “nature” and “technology” are, with an emphasis on what the words “nature” and “technology” mean as well as the relationship between them. In our examinations of nature and technology, we will attempt to weave out own narrative about the relationship between nature and technology and ourselves — “What does it mean to be human?” “Are we ever outside of nature?” “Is technology a net good or a net bad?”
Co-curricular Spotlight
The Massasauga, La Lumiere’s literary magazine, is edited and produced by students and publishes student, faculty, and alumni creative writing and art.
Faculty
Contact: mbuchanan@lalumiere.org
Matt Buchanan joined La Lumiere in 2009. He has taught Introduction to Literature, the Art of Rhetoric, American Literature, The Underdog and the American Dream, and other courses. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from the University of California, San Diego, and completed the Elementary Education credential program at UCSD the following year. He has coached baseball and the Academic Decathlon and been an assistant dorm parent over the years. He loves watching students find their writer’s voices and gain the skills to analyze and connect literary texts, and when he’s not in the classroom, he might be found around campus with a notebook, jotting down the seeds of poetry, around campus with his kids, chasing frogs or kicking a soccer ball, or somewhere across from the baseball field where nobody can hear him, playing the accordion that he’s played since the age of six.
Contact: nrupp@lalumiere.org
Nichole Rupp joined La Lumiere School in 2025. She brings over 10 years of experience in teaching english. She obtained her doctorate in English at the University of Surrey in Guildford, England. She has a published novel called The Fox and the Pear Tree and has taught English internationally. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and exploring.
Contact: jsanchez@lalumiere.org
Jorge joined our wonderful community in 2026. Mr. Sanchez teaches AP English Literature, Speech, English seminar electives and Biblical Literacy. Mr. Sanchez earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Loyola University, Chicago, and then earned two Master degrees, one in English from the University of Michigan and one in Divinity from the University of Chicago. He has taught in high schools and college over a 25-year career, most recently serving as English teacher and Dean of Students at Roycemore School. Mr. Sanchez has extensive experience with academic competitions. He also assists with the Academic Super Bowl team!
Graduation Requirements
Students must complete four (4) credits of English in order to graduate and should be enrolled in an English class during each semester at La Lumiere.