​We provide a language immersion experience for non-native English speakers in: dormitory assignments, extracurricular activities, assemblies, and the bulk of academic work. The following courses are offered to help students gain confidence in their immersion and to support non-native speaking students who are still honing their skills in spoken English, English grammar, vocabulary, reading, and conversation. Student-generated and centered discussions are at the heart of each classroom and require attentive and responsible participation from each member of the class. We recommend that

non-native speakers of English enroll in USA: Exploring American Culture and in no more than one of the other four courses listed below.

Becoming a Confident Writer for Non-Native Speakers (Grade 9 and above)
In this introductory writing workshop, we will proceed in the belief that the act of writing can help produce confidence in reading,  writing, and thinking skills. You will complete daily writing exercises that stress observation, description, detail, and development of voice. We will build confidence in skills through frequent short pieces of writing from experience and consistent reinforcement of “showing” rather than “telling.” Students will be led through the process of drafting, editing, and evaluating their own writing. Prose assignments may include personal narratives, personal essays, and expository writing. Harkness discussions will examine works of non-fiction prose and will provide a forum for discussing drafts of students’ papers. If you enroll in this course, you will become a member of a small community of writers eager to help one another through thoughtful discussion and literary analysis. 

Contemporary Issues in Journalism
Daily readings from newspapers will be the focus of this course, which is intended for both intermediate and advanced students.
You will be expected to participate actively in class discussions and debates surrounding current global issues. We will emphasize reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition in the context of discovering the conflicts and connections between nations and cultures. Students will keep a journal and write articles to develop their opinions, analytical skills, and writing styles.

Creative Writing for Non-Native Speakers (All Grades)
This introductory workshop in creative writing allows students to explore the genres of short fiction, poetry, and personal narrative. Harkness conversations will help you become comfortable with the critical vocabulary used to assess student writing and literature. You will learn various skills essential to a writing workshop: collaborative discourse, peer-editing, and revision. You will do a great deal of writing, (often short exercises) both in and outside of class. Literary texts, (primarily short stories and poetry) will provide you with models for your own creative work.

Grasping Grammar for Non-Native Speakers
This course focuses on the fundamentals of English grammar: verb forms, pronoun cases, agreement, parallel structure, idioms,
transitions, syntax, and diction. Students will read and discuss short fiction, poetry, and non-fiction essays as models of effective
writing essential to academic success. Students will also study vocabulary and work at strengthening their own writing skills
through assignments that emphasize logical development of theses and supporting arguments. While not designed as a course to prepare students for specific exams, Grasping Grammar may help students feel better prepared for the SAT II WritingTest and the
AP Language and Composition Exam.

USA: Exploring American Culture (All Grades)
This course is for non-native English speakers who want to develop their writing and discussion skills. Through challenging
and enjoyable activities, you will discover a lot about American culture that is especially useful if you plan to attend high school
or college in the United States. You will read, discussand write about essays, poems, magazine and newspaper articles. You will see American films. You will study American education, history, art, customs, people, and food. Our international Harkness Table discussions will expand your English vocabulary and help meet your needs as a foreign student visiting a new country.

 

Leadership and Society
In this course you will be introduced to several types of leaders who have significantly affected society. We will study concepts
from various disciplines such as anthropology, history, mythology, psychology, and philosophy in order to gain a greater understanding of the interaction of leaders in their respective societies. Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Albert Einstein, Mao Zedong, Franklin D.Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Eleanor Roosevelt, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and others may be among the leaders we examine. We will emphasize the critical thinking skills you will need to be successful in college.

Leadership in Athletics
The world of sports is rife with examples of great leaders and challenges that can allow us to explore the  complexity  of leadership. This course will explore how leadership manifests itself on the field from the perspective of players such as Michael Jordan, Yao Ming, Jeremy Lin, and Peyton Manning, as well as from the sidelines through coaches such as John Wooden and Joe Torre. We will be examining current events that reflect leadership challenges for coaches, athletes, and fans such as steroid usage, the off-field behavior of professional athletes and coaches, or the more recent scandal at Penn State. Topics to explore will include skills and characteristics of sports leaders, the relationship between leaders and followers, coaches as leaders, team captains as leaders, conflict resolution and team dynamics, and the role of gender in sports leadership.

 

Literature and Composition I

Intended for students entering the seventh and eighth grades, this course focuses on building fundamental reading and writing skills. Most classes combine a consideration of the principles of clear written expression with the close, critical reading of narrative and dramatic fiction. A review of grammatical principles lays the foundation for studying expression at the level of the sentence, and particular attention is paid to effective use of coordination and subordination and to correcting common sentence faults. Concurrently, students learn to write focused, purposefully developed expository paragraphs, and during the last week, they compose a complete essay. Significant time is spent approaching systematically the various steps of the writing process, including brainstorming to generate ideas, selecting appropriate organizational strategies, outlining, and revising and editing a rough draft in order to produce a polished expression.

 

Students read a selection of short stories and either a short novel or a play. Seminar-style class discussions stress the critical approach to literature; in these discussions students learn about the elements of fiction as they learn to read closely and carefully. To complement this endeavor, students regularly write short paragraphs in which they closely analyze passages from the reading. Those who take this course can expect to enter the ninth grade having become more disciplined and more confident readers and writers.

 

Literature and Composition II

Designed for students entering the ninth and tenth grades, this course strives to make students more disciplined, effective writers and more careful, thoughtful readers. Students devote half of their time in and out of class to mastering the skills necessary to write clearly and purposefully; they spend the remainder of their time learning to read and analyze challenging literature.

 

The writing instruction is designed to enhance students' command of written expression. They learn to compose grammatically sound, controlled sentences by reviewing the principles of grammar, paying particular attention to common sentence faults and to effective coordination and subordination. Concurrently, students are instructed in the fundamentals of paragraph construction: they learn to compose effective topic sentences and to employ a variety of strategies to develop those topic sentences in a unified and coherent fashion. Finally, as they write papers on specific topics, students are systematically exposed to the various stages of the writing process. The course reviews the techniques of brainstorming, organization (outlining and "mapping"), and editing, and it stresses the importance of detail to clear expression. Throughout the session, students prepare a number of papers—paragraphs at the outset and complete essays in the last two weeks—on topics ranging from personal narratives to literary analysis.

 

Students become more skilled readers by considering a selection of short stories and a novel. Class discussions, focused on the close reading of specific passages, teach the students to read carefully and critically. Their analytical skills become more finely tuned as they learn about the elements of fiction and about specific literary devices. This critical approach is complemented by regular short written exercises in which students learn to express clearly their reactions to what they read.

 

Literature and Composition III

This course, designed for students entering the eleventh and twelfth grades, resembles Literature and Composition II in that it also stresses the development of students' abilities to write clearly and to read critically. However, it is much more ambitious and sophisticated in its approach to both goals. The course resembles a college seminar in that its focal point is reading and writing about literature. The first two weeks are devoted to a study of the elements of fiction—character, conflict, setting, and theme—as they are developed in several short stories. During the final three weeks, students study a play and a novel. In order to appreciate more fully the possibilities of language, students spend one class per week systematically considering a selection of poems. As they consider this variety of literature, students study various literary devices and are introduced to a variety of critical terms. Students write in or out of class almost every day. Generally, writing assignments are of two types: short, detailed analyses of passages from the work being studied, and longer paragraphs and essays analyzing a broader idea or element in the work. As students undertake the longer papers, they review such fundamentals of composition as effective topic sentences and thesis statements, unity of expression, and logical transitions between sentences and ideas. And although the course does not include a formal review of grammar, students do discuss common grammatical errors in class and in conferences with their teachers. Evaluation of students' written work is based on its precision of expression, the logic and effectiveness of its organization, and the originality, validity and documentation of its ideas.

 

Pre-Algebra

The Pre-Algebra course is designed to prepare students for an elementary algebra course by reinforcing the skills necessary for success in secondary school mathematics. In addition to an intensive review, the course previews topics from Algebra I, including operations with numbers and variables, powers and exponents, order of operation and solutions of first degree equations. Other topics will be included as time permits.

 

Algebra I 

Algebra I presents a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of algebra. The course emphasizes algebraic techniques, particularly factoring, solving equations, and analyzing linear functions. Strategies for solving problems form an important component of the course, and an assortment of word problems are taught throughout the year. Other topics covered include real numbers, operations with polynomials and algebraic fractions, variation, inequalities, systems of equations, radical expressions, and quadratic functions.

 

Algebra II 

Algebra II extends the foundation in algebra begun in Algebra 1. Students explore functions more extensively, namely polynomial, rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions. Other topics studied include conics, sequences and series, and an introduction to trigonometry. Students also become much more adept at using the numerical and graphing capabilities of their calculators.

 

Geometry 

Geometry provides an introduction to geometric techniques and ideas. Though different sections approach the subject in different ways, all sections develop results involving lines, planes, triangles, circles, polygons, perpendicularity, congruence, similarity, area, and volume. Algebraic techniques are revisited through topics such as inequalities, proportions, and coordinate geometry. Mathematical writing, axiomatic reasoning, and proof form a natural component of the curriculum. Further topics may include vectors, constructions, and similarity transformations. The text for the course is Jurgensen, Geometry. Upon completion of this course, students will be prepared to take the Mathematics Level 1 SAT subject test.

 

Trigonometry 

Trigonometry has its roots in the relationships between the sides and angles of a triangle. Students solve equations involving the sine, cosine, and tangent functions, and then investigate a wide array of real world applications. Further study focuses on identities, analytic properties of the trigonometric functions, and features of their graphs such as periodicity, symmetry, amplitude, and phase shift. The text consists of relevant chapters from Brown, Advanced Mathematics.

 

Analysis/PreCalculus

Analysis/PreCalculus continues the development of topics studied in Algebra 2. Exponential, logarithmic, polynomial, rational functions, analytical geometry, systems equations and inequalities, matrices and determinants, sequences, series, probabilities, conic sections, and polar coordinates are revisited in greater depth or introduced. Students have by now become proficient with their calculators, which aid them in their study of these functions and their graphs. The text is relevant chapters from Brown, Advanced Mathematics. Upon completion of this course, students will be prepared to take the Mathematics Level 2 SAT Subject Test. 

 

SAT Prep Course

The SAT Prep Course covers all sections of the exam: math, reading, writing, and essay. Students will learn test-taking strategies and take two full-length practice exams (with an optional third test available). They will have complete access to the College Board Online Student Center at the conclusion of the course and can continue to improve their skills after the camp ends.

SSAT Prep Course
The Secondary School Admission Test is used for admissions at private schools nationwide. The SSAT Prep Course provides strategies and testing practice on all sections of the test. Students take two full-length practice SSATs and receive personalized score reports detailing their strengths and weaknesses.

 

 

Basketball

Boys and girls work on the skills of the game and are organized into teams to compete on an intramural basis. Basketball shoes are required. Running shoes are not allowed.

Bats, Balls, and Bases
Students will be outside engaging in a variety of games, including stickball, Wiffle ball, cricket, and a softball variation that doesn’t require gloves.

Board and Card Games
For those students who may be physically unable to participate in active sports, we offer board and card games. Students will learn how to play classic card games such as Hearts, Spades, and Bridge, as well as board games such as chess, checkers, Monopoly, Risk, and Settlers of Catan.

Cross-Country Training
This afternoon activity allows the serious runner the opportunity to prepare for a competitive fall season. Students must wear proper running shoes and attire.

Dance
Open to all students—although some dance experience is preferred—students may work on a range of styles, from modern to ballet to jazz. All students will have the opportunity to display their new moves at an end-of-summer dance recital.

Outdoor Adventure
Outdoor Adventure presents a series of physical and problem-solving challenges requiring students to work together  cooperatively and effectively. Activities become more demanding as groups progress from ground activities to the high-element ropes-climbing course. Additionally, students spend several days learning and practicing rock-climbing skills at the state-of-the-art Josh Miner indoor climbing facility.

Playground Games
Do you remember those amazing afternoons in elementary school when your class was divided into teams and then battled on the field with a red rubber ball? Those are the days we will recreate in this activity, which includes a rotation of games such as kickball, dodgeball, and Capture the Flag. Don’t be concerned if you’ve never played these games—all skill levels are welcomed!

Soccer
Players are organized into coed teams and receive instruction in the basics of the game. There are numerous skill levels, and everyone finds his or her proper niche. All participants must bring molded cleats and shin guards.

Squash
This sport is offered as a free-play activity, with some guidance available for those who want it. The school furnishes the balls, and the players supply their own racquets and protective eyewear. Players also must have shoes with non-marking, light-colored soles. Running shoes are not allowed.

Swimming
Swimming takes place in Phillips Academy’s six-lane indoor pool, and participants are required to have nylon or other synthetic 
fabric bathing suits. Those with long hair must wear caps or a tight braid. The group is divided into recreational and competitive 
swimmers

 

Table Tennis
Students will spend the summer playing one of the fastest sports in the world, table tennis. Several tables will be available for 
play, and novice players will be paired so they can learn from more experienced players.

Tennis
The tennis program consists of recreational play at the intermediate and advanced levels. A small group of beginners will receive some instruction. Racquets are provided.

Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate Frisbee is a team sport that resembles American football but is played with a disc. It is an exciting and invigorating 
game. Basic skills are reinforced daily.

Volleyball
This activity is open to all levels and played both competitively and for fun. Instruction is available for those who need it.