Writing Excellence

"Success in college, work, and life depends upon communicating and expressing ideas effectively through writing" (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, April 2019). 

At Independence, we agree wholeheartedly with this statement, which is why we have always focused on writing excellence – and why we always will.

Our unique sequential and spiraling writing curriculum is strong from preschool through eighth grade. Students master skills overlooked at many schools, such as phonics, grammar, cursive writing and vocabulary study. Regular practice of writing mechanics and personalized reading instruction form the strong foundation for these young writers.

From early elementary papers on mammals, to opportunities for creative writing, to major research papers as part of Capstone Projects, students acquire the knowledge and gain the confidence to produce the impressive writing that places them well ahead of peers in high school, college and even the workplace.

The results for Independence students are strong. Eighty percent of the Class of 2023 scored in the Above Average range on the Educational Research Bureau’s (ERB) Writing Assessment Program (WrAP), a direct measure of student writing achievement. More than half of those students scored at the highest level.