Chantilly High School
Pre-AP Summer Seminar for Rising Freshmen 2009-10

Syllabus (in PDF Format)  |  Registration Form (in PDF Format) (in Word Format)

Thank you for your interest in the CHS Pre-AP Summer Seminar. We are excited to offer this program and look forward to meeting all our new Chargers.

Academic Focus and Goal:
Our goal for the Summer Seminar is to prepare rising 9th graders for the rigors of high school academics. Toward this end, we have developed an intense one-week Boot Camp that will challenge students to read thoroughly and deliberately and think critically about what they read. Of course, accomplishing our goal in such a short period of time will require the enthusiastic participation of our students. We will be assigning homework as preparation for each day’s lessons (this includes a reading assignment that is due on the first day of the Seminar; please see the course syllabus below) and checking that all students have completed their homework. Although no official grade will be recorded on the students’ transcripts, we will provide a progress report to help students assess their own strengths and weaknesses.

Required Texts:
There is no fee for the Seminar, but students are required to provide their own texts. We will be using two titles: Robert Fagles’ translation of The Iliad and Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. The Hamilton text is also part of the Pre-AP English 9 summer reading assignment. Both texts will be available at discounted prices through the AKJ Book Club: http://www.akjbookclub.net/chantilly.html : click “Grade 9”; click “Pre-AP Summer Seminar”. (Note: AKJ charges the same price for delivery regardless of the size of the order; you can save even more money if you combine your order with friends and have all the books sent to one address.) These texts are also available at local book stores and through Amazon.com.

Registration and Contact Information:
To register for the Summer Seminar, please complete the registration form and return it to me. You can save the registration form, fill it out electronically, and return it to me via email (eric.richardson@fcps.edu) ; or, you can print it, fill it out, and drop it at the Chantilly High School main office (attn: Eric Richardson). Remember, space is limited and will be given on a first come, first serve basis. Be certain to indicate which session you prefer to attend.

The links to the preliminary syllabus and registration form are listed above.

Thank you, again.
Eric Richardson
Allison Lowe
Jessica McCarthy