Summer at Darlington should be a season for rest, reflection, and renewal, spending time with family, pursuing personal interests, seeing new places, and generally experiencing an unhurried curiosity in time that is hard to find during the school year. Our summer expectations are designed with this in mind and honed with research along with feedback from parents, students, and faculty.
Reading is the one practice we ask of every student. Our summer reading expectations seek to promote both a love of reading and improvement in literacy. A college-preparatory life is built on both the skill and enjoyment of reading: the vocabulary, language structure, cultural literacy, and habit of mind that all come from long, attentive engagement with a book. Research supports and we believe that choice-based reading paired with low-stakes follow-up does more to engender a personal interest in literacy than performance-based summer work. This is especially effective when the experience combines consistent expectations with peer participation and home support.
Beyond reading, we frame other summer work as enrichment rather than a requirement. For families and students who want guidance on how to add some productive time to the summer, we offer recommended resources and programs. These include ways to maintain math fluency, sharpen typing skills, explore a subject they love, and yes, even read more! None are graded or mandatory. Our school-year instruction is designed to handle the fall return to academics, and our teachers know how to assimilate students into their classes without a head start.
In addition to grade-level reading, rising seniors complete college guidance assignments before returning to school, and AP English Language and AP English Literature students draw their summer reading from course-specific lists rather than the general Upper School list.
Enjoy your summer and return in the fall confident knowing the time was well spent!
