Part 1 of 3: Committed to Academic Excellence

Part 2 of 3: Q&A on English curriculum overhaul

Part 3 of 3: New English curriculum

Last year, Valley Lutheran went through the accreditation process with the National Lutheran School Accreditation (NLSA) Commission eventually becoming one of the Top 5 accredited Lutheran schools in the country, and next year VLHS is finishing the process to upgrade its facilities with new STEM, art, and athletic facilities.

But that isn’t stopping the school from trying to improve this year, too.

Valley is currently undergoing a curriculum overhaul in its English Department that goes into effect for the 2019-20 school year.

“This is huge,” said Dr. Lisa Meyers, Academic Dean at VLHS. “They really abandoned everything and rebuilt it from the bottom up. Once you do that, you have to look at everything. How does it change our registration process? How does it change our placement process? What resources and training do they need?

“Our three English teachers have been on top of everything. They are really amazing.”

Valley typically undergoes a curriculum review in all of its academic departments every 3-to-5 years, or as needed, but Dr. Meyers said it has been 20 years since such a drastic change has been made.

“This new program pulls together all the skills (students) need,” Meyers said. “In addition to all the great reading and discussion, analysis and good-thinking skills that come from literature, we’ll have a solidified, comprehensive writing program. It gets our students ready to write formally, informally, to be ready for college writing, for career writing. They’re very important skills.

“It’s also going to incorporate the speaking and listening component. So they’re going to have a lot of practice doing presentations, working in groups, being able to work verbally and in the written form.”

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For more on Valley’s commitment to excellence, visit www.vlhs.com or Valley’s Facebook page.