Students are exposed to the literary arts beginning in the Lower School and continuing through the Upper School. While much of this exposure for younger students is through the language arts curriculum, older students have the opportunity to hone their writing skills by working with faculty outside of the classroom and through opportunities such as The Scroll, the Upper School student-run newspaper; InWords, our literary magazine; Scroll Junior, the Middle School newsletter; Archive, the all-school yearbook; and summer writing workshops. Last year, Lower School students wrote and illustrated their own books on Cincinnati history and distributed them to community members during lunch time.
Beyond curricular opportunities to develop creative expression in the Upper School, students are given the chance to take formal writing courses their senior year, including Writing Workshop and The Family in Contemporary Literature. Upper School students have also been recognized locally and nationally for their contributions to the literary arts including:
- NCTE’s Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines (PRESLM), Superior Rank, 2008
- Overture Awards for Creative Writing, semi-finalist, 2008, 2011
- Scholastic Regional Art and Writing Awards, Gold Keys, 2006-2011
- PRESLM, Excellent Rank, 2006 and 2007
- Scholastic National Art and Writing Awards, Silver Key, 2006-2011
- National Council of Teachers of English National Achievement Award in Writing, 2006
- Princeton University’s Ten-Minute Play Competition, 2005
- Bennington Young Writers Competition, 2004-2005