The Secondary English Department at the Colegio Bolívar is an important element of the Bilingual Program at the school, continuing the progress made by the Preprimary and Primary faculty in the instruction of English. A mixture of North American and local teachers, all combining a wide variety of educational backgrounds and experience, the Secondary English Department is chaired by Robin Perskie, the 6th grade English teacher. The other current members of the department are Nira Penn in grade seven; Angie Armstrong in grade eight; Octavio Aristizabal in grade nine; Regan Ashker in grade ten + two sections of psychology; Kristy Whittall in grade eleven; Sarah Marslender in grade twelve + two sections of grade ten; and Tom Rompf teaching the AP English Literature and Composition course. Although the student base at the Colegio Bolívar is predominantly Colombian (up to 98%), the level of English at the school is considered very high, and, in fact, as many as 40% of our graduating seniors will attend colleges and universities in North America, a real credit to the fine work done by these teachers as well as the Primary and Preprimary programs and staff.

The English program for grades six through twelve offers a wide variety of materials and methodologies, always with an eye on our students' inherent struggles with English as a second language. Grade levels six through nine focus primarily on a genre-based approach to literature. Reviewing, exploring, and identifying the devices used to analyze prose, poetry and drama, these students are preparing themselves for work in the upper levels. In addition, the fundamentals of grammar, writing and research are presented and reinforced throughout the lower levels in Secondary. Tenth grade offers the students a writing course in order to help them hone their writing skills and explore their own opinions and ideas, using popular fiction and non-fiction as the platform from which they can spring into their own creations. Grades eleven and twelve take a humanities approach to the teaching of English and American literatures, respectively, using the tools previously mastered for analysis and focusing on the ideas and archetypes that form the inspiration and canon of Western thought and letters. As well, the school offers an AP English Literature and Composition class for seniors, an advanced English program for US bound seniors focusing on World Literature.  In addition to the obligatory textbooks at each level, students are also exposed to a wide variety of novels, including many classics, multicultural works, and recent fiction and non-fiction, cumulatively reading as many as 4-5 novels a year, both as a class and independently. Rounding out the program are projects and independent research at all levels, taking the form of debates, video work, interviews, publication writing, poetry festivals, plays, etc. Finally, study skills and good work habits are emphasized throughout the curriculum from K through twelve.  Overall, the English program at the Colegio Bolívar is quite extensive and thorough in its work preparing these bilingual students for a future in either Colombia or North America.

For fun, the English Department, in an effort to whet its own skills and talents, has met on a regular basis during the last 19 years for literature discussion groups called Tertulias—loosely defined as "When a group of individuals come together and share their ideas, talents and anecdotes in the spirit of interpreting life, when there is song and poetry and when there is wit in conversation, then we say that a Tertulia! has formed." An opportunity to share literature from all over the world, both current and classic, these discussions provide an excellent opportunity for the department to relax, have a good meal, and share their own thoughts and feelings about that subject which they love best.

Finally, the Secondary English Department is consistently involved with professional development, offering mini-workshops to each other and to other departments at the school, attending offerings by local universities, and participating in the professional development offered by the school.

The Colegio Bolivar English Department – It just doesn’t get any better!

Links to our curriculum, book inventory and other department documents follows.

• The specific curriculums for K4 through 12th grade. This is our curriculum.

• The English Department Book Inventory.  This is a list of all the materials we use at the school, both required “class” texts as well as book sets for outside reading.
• The Holistic Scales for Colegio Bolivar writing. This is a rubric the department is using to provide consistent marking across the grade levels AND as a basis for our anchor papers at each level.
• Our Document and Handout for Plagiarism.  This is the handout we give to students at the beginning of the year to clarify what plagiarism is and what the consequences are for students who decide to plagiarize.  The department and library are committed to dealing with the problems of plagiarism.
• The Essay Writing Handout.  This document, again given to students, clarifies our requirements for formal essays, including structure and content.