On February 11th and 18th during lunch, there will be informational meetings held about the Aegis III and Aegis IV courses in Dr. Adkins’ room S409. Applications filled out and submitted off this Google Form will be due no later than February 25th, 2022 at 4 pm. On the google form, applicants will need to fill out their name, email, student ID, parent/ guardian names and emails, English Teachers’ Names in both 9th and 10th grades, approximate weighted GPA,  a brief description of why you’d like to be in Aegis (2-3 sentences), and a prepared paragraph in which you describe your connection to a favorite author.

Selection for the course is broken down to 50% for the applicant’s writing sample, while the other 50% is based on teacher recommendations, the student’s weighted GPA, and a combination of test scores including PSAT and CogAt scores. The course is selective with only around 18-20 of the applicants being accepted and preparing those admitted for the rigor of college courses.

The Aegis program is an advanced junior and senior English class. In the class, if admitted, students will focus on challenging literature, creative writing, poetry analysis, analytical writing, short stories, research writing, memoirs, social justice issues, multimodal writing, critical dialogue, literary criticism, rhetorical textual analysis, one-act playwriting, group collaborations, formal research proposals, research techniques and application in informative, descriptive, argumentative, and op-ed essays, and AP Exam prep.

The program is not technically AP, but with the strong analytical skills obtained by the end of the course, students often perform well on the AP tests.  Aegis student Alisa Burt, junior said, “Aegis is good for students who like project-based learning and who like to explore different aspects of literature creatively.” Students that are successful in the program typically have these traits: strong work ethic, intelligence/insightfulness, creativity, willingness to take risks, curiosity, respect for others, good attendance, time management skills, self-discipline, articulation skills, and a sincere love of literature, writing, discussion, and learning.  The three main differences between Aegis and AP English is that Aegis is an audition-based class taking place over two years, focuses stronger on creative writing, and students will take both AP exams at the end of their senior year.