Mission Statement: Members of the Desert Vista English Department work together as a team to develop and maintain high standards for our students. Grade level teams strive to ensure consistent content and assessment among the classes, while still maintaining their own styles and approaches 

Our philosophical goals include not only the appreciation of composition and literature but also the exposure of students to a variety of perspectives, in an environment fostering integrity and compassion, which are themselves inherent to the study of our field.

Success in Desert Vista’s English courses can be achieved in many ways. Most importantly, reading is an integral part of our curriculum, so it is imperative that students do all reading assigned in English classes in order to participate in meaningful discussions. Students may make appointments with English faculty before and after school for additional help and may utilize the DV Peer Tutoring program.

Students at Desert Vista are required to take four years of English courses, in addition to which they may choose from a number of electives, such as yearbook, journalism (newspaper), and public speaking. As an extracurricular activity, Literary Magazine offers students a forum for their own writing and artwork; the magazine is published annually. The creative writing club provides another outlet for young writers.

Course offerings include Freshman, Honors Freshman, Sophomore, Honors Sophomore, Junior, Honors Junior (Dual Enrollment), AP Language & Composition (Honors), Senior, College Composition (Honors and Dual Enrollment), Humanities (Honors), Creative Writing (Dual Enrollment), and AP Literature & Composition (Honors).