ESL & Art Intensive (In-Person)

With a wealth of experience teaching English, we know that language acquisition is most successful when learners gain confidence in themselves and have fun in the process. The key to such success is getting students to think critically and engage artistically with a variety of stress-free platforms that foster community, allowing you, the English Language Learner, to get one step closer to fluency.

Idyllwild Arts Academy’s World Languages and English for Academic Communication enables students whose first language is not English to meet the academic requirements for graduation, as outlined by the Student-Parent Handbook and prescribed by the University of California Admissions Standards. Our department offers multiple levels of instruction. Its rigorous and supportive model, in an immersive environment, develops proficiency in oral and written English. All core departmental classes include listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar. Small class sizes facilitate individual attention by teachers committed to increasing intercultural understanding as well as language proficiency.

New international students must take our own comprehensive English-skills test (usually given during an online interview) to determine their appropriate starting levels in English. During the first week of class, teachers observe and evaluate each student to make sure this starting level is correct. Teachers then monitor each student’s progress with a broad range of continuous-assessment tools and an end-of-semester level check. Progress to the next level of English instruction is determined by the student’s arts and academic teachers’ recommendations, as well as by class performance.

With a wealth of experience teaching English, we know that language acquisition is most successful when learners gain confidence in themselves and have fun in the process. The key to such success is getting students to think critically and engage artistically with a variety of stress-free platforms that foster community, allowing you, the English Language Learner, to get one step closer to fluency.

Wednesday & Sunday: Excursions to locations throughout Southern CA

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday:

Free time can include swimming in our on-campus pool, going on a hike, games in the common room, or just taking a break to relax.

Harry Trantham began his teaching career in Linz, Austria on a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship followed by acceptance into Teach for America in New York City. In addition to New York, he has taught in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Greenville, South Carolina. He has a B.A. in German Literature and International Studies from the University of Oregon and an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from the City College of New York. Harry served as a founding member and ESL Department Chair of the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS) in New York City and was a charter faculty member of Smedly Elementary, a Philadelphia Mastery Charter Renaissance School. He is currently a full-time instructor in the World Languages and English for Academic Communication department at Idyllwild Arts Academy. He has been here since 2016.