St.PiusXSchool-EnglishDepartment
Summer2026ReadingAssignmentsOverview&Expectations
AnimportantpartofoursharedmissionishelpingeverySartangrowintellectually andmorallythroughthoughtfulengagementwithliterature.Throughoutthe schoolyear,ourEnglishDepartmentcarefullyselectstextsandplansinstructionto keepstudentsreading,thinking,discussing,andwritingastheygrowinwisdom andskill.
Onewayweencouragecontinuedliteracygrowthoverthesummeris throughourrequiredsummerreadingassignment.Everystudentisaskedto acquireandreadatleastoneassignedbookthatservesasthefocusofinstruction andassessmentatthestartoftheschoolyear.Thesetextsareselectedtobe manageabletoreadinthefinalweeksofsummer,appropriateincomplexityand contentforeachgradelevel,andlaunchmeaningfuldiscussion,analysis,and writingassoonasclassesbegin.
Aswecontinuereviewingouracademicprogramforourgrowingandincreasingly diversestudentbodyfromgrades6-12,wehavefocusedonbalancingacademic rigorwithstudents’needforrestandrenewal.Whilewebelievethesummer readingassignmentisvaluable,wedonotbelieveitservesstudentswellto spendtheentiresummercompletingacademicwork.Studentsneedtimeto rest,pursuetheirowninterests,participateinsummerprograms,andgainvaluable lifeexperiences--travel,adventure,orsummerjobs.
Inlightofthis,wehaveadjustedanddefinedouroverallexpectationsfor theEnglishDepartment’ssummerreadingassignments.Wehavereducedthe numberandlengthofassignedtexts,removedrequiredprojectsandformal notetaking,andcoordinatedwithotherdepartmentstobettermanagestudents’
overallsummerworkload.Forexample,intheSciencedepartment,HonorsBiology willNOTrequireasummerassignmentforthe2026–27schoolyear.
Herearetheexpectations:Everystudentshouldobtainandreadapersonal copy(paperorelectronic)oftheassignedbook(s)fornextyear’sEnglish courseandbepreparedtodiscussthebook(s)duringthefirsttwoweeksof schoolandcompleteanassessmentonthebook(s)duringthesecondor thirdweek.Ifnospecificguidanceisprovidedbytheirteacheratthebeginningof thesummer,studentsshouldfocusastheyreadonunderstandingthebook’smajor characters,centralconflictandresolution,andkeypassagesthatcommunicate importantmoralthemesorinsightsabouttheworld.
Noformalannotationornotetakingisrequired,thoughmarkingpassagesor keepingbriefchapternotesmaybehelpfulpreparationandreferenceforthe discussionandanalysisactivitiesthatwillbeginwhenschoolstarts..
Althoughonlyonetextisrequiredfornon-APcourses,weencouragestudentsto readadditionalbooksthatinterestandchallengethem.Familiescansupportthis growthbytakinganinterestinstudents’readingchoices,discussingbooks together,andencouraginghabitsthatfosteraloveofreading.
Welookforwardtoastrongstarttothecomingschoolyearandprayyourfamily enjoysasummerfilledwithrest,growth,andgratitudeforGod’sgoodness.