Upper School

Download the US Required Summer Reading List

Science

AP Environmental Science
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart (ISBN: 978-0865475878)

History

9th Grade – No required Summer Reading. Please pay attention to local, regional, and national news about politics. Make sure you read and listen to a variety of sources!

10th Grade (MWH & MWH Hon.) – No Summer Reading. Please pay attention to international news this summer. Read and listen to a variety of sources!

11th Grade
US History – Ira Berlin – The Making of African America (ISBN: 978-0-14-311879-4)
Please see the US History Summer Reading Chart for students to read and complete.

APUSH –Ed. Byron Hollingshead – I Wish I Had Been There (ISBN: 978-1-4000-9654-1)
Please refer to the AP US Reading Assignment.

IB World – Trevor Noah – Born a Crime (ISBN: 978-0399588198)

Semester Electives:
No Summer Reading

AP & IB Books:
AP Psychology – Oliver Sacks – The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (ISBN: 978-0684853949)

AP Modern Euro – I Wish I’d Been There: Book Two, European History ed. Byron Hollinshead and Theodore K. Rabb (ISBN: 978-0307277640)
Please refer to the AP Euro Reading Assignment

AP American Government and Politics – No Summer Reading - please follow US Government-related news over the summer. Read and listen to a variety of sources.

IB Psychology – Oliver Sacks – The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (ISBN: 978-0684853949)

IB Americas (12th grade) – Eric Foner – The Second Founding (ISBN: 978-0393358520) (paperback)

AP Human Geography – Follow Current Events
This summer, please keep track of current events taking place both within the United States and abroad. You can listen to podcasts, read articles online, and watch or listen to reports on the television or radio. The purpose of this assignment is to become current on the world’s issues, updates, and changes. Being an informed citizen and discussing current events will give one a better perspective on different points of view and events shaping our global communities. Additionally, your ability to connect what we are learning in the classroom to the events taking place and shaping our world is invaluable to your overall experience and success in AP Human Geography. We will complete an assignment on current events within the first couple of days of the new school year. Be ready to share and discuss!

As you take notice of current events, go ahead and start thinking about how this may connect to our course. I encourage you to glance through the AP Human Geography Course and Exam Description (CED) - https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-human-geography-course-and-exam- description.pdf – prior to the start of the school year.

English

English 9

• Students must read at least one full length book of their choice.
• Here’s a great resource from the Upper School library (It’s from 2023 but still has wonderful options!): https://www.ccds-blc.org/summer-reading

English 10
Scythe by Neal Shusterman (ISBN: 9781543617948)

Read through our Course Essential Questions below and choose two to consider as you read Scythe. Take notes as to how the novel answers your selected questions. This will help prepare you for our discussion and work on this text in August.

Year-Long Essential Questions:

1. How do individual choices and perspectives impact one's role and place in a society?
2. How are individual choices influenced by the expectations of others?
3. In what ways do societal rules about identity such as family, gender, health, race, and religion impact an individual’s choices?
4.  What are the implications of an individual's decision to break societal expectations or laws? What are the implications of an individual's losing or giving up control? . . . of making mistakes?
5.  How do historical and cultural contexts determine a "society"? How do the societies in our study compare?
6. How do individuals show their societies that they matter?
7. How do individuals relate to societal systems of justice and power?
8. How should individuals maintain a healthy level of pride?
9.  When and how should individuals be compassionate, especially towards those who are marginalized? Why and how do societies encourage or discourage compassion?

English 11
Kindred by Octavia Butler (ISBN: 9780807083697)

• “You need to find yourself in this story” – Dr. Waples. If, when we read books, they are only far-away and, therefore, boring accounts of people we share nothing in common with, then English can probably never be anything more than somebody else’s story, nothing that matters to us. Instead, students should try to find themselves in the stories we encounter… even while it also will be extremely important and necessary that we discover the differences we encounter as well.
• Literary Scholar Robert Crossley writes, “The American slave narrative is a literary form whose historical boundaries are firmly marked. While first-person narratives about oppression and exclusion will persist as long as racism persists, slave narratives ceased to be written when the last American citizen who had lived under institutionalized slavery died. The only way in which a new slave-memoir could be written is if someone were able to travel into the past, become a slave, and return to tell the story. Because the laws of physics, such as we know them, preclude traveling backwards in time, such a book would have to be a hybrid of autobiographical narrative and scientific fantasy. That is exactly the sort of book Octavia Butler imagined when she wrote Kindred, first published in 1979. Like all good works of fiction, it lies like the truth.” —from Crossley, Robert. “Critical Essay.” Reader’s Guide. https://www.beacon.org/Assets/PDFs/Kindredrg.pdf. Accessed 15 May 2024.
• As you read Kindred, type your responses to the questions below using the link to Microsoft Forms.

1. Where do you see yourself in this story? What part of your lived experience manifests itself in the book?
2. Where are you NOT in this story? What part of the story seems different from the world you know? (Your response to this question might discuss time and history, but it certainly should not stop there).
3. How does this story affect your awareness of slavery in America?
4. How is Butler’s choice to use fiction an effective and/or limiting choice?
5. In what way does the book “[lie] like the truth” and what is the effect of that seeming contradiction?
6. What questions and/or unresolved emotions does the book leave with you?

English 11 AP
Kindred by Octavia Butler (ISBN: 9780807083697)

• “You need to find yourself in this story” – Dr. Waples. If, when we read books, they are only far-away and, therefore, boring accounts of people we share nothing in common with, then English can probably never be anything more than somebody else’s story, nothing that matters to us. Instead, students should try to find themselves in the stories we encounter… even while it also will be extremely important and necessary that we discover the differences we encounter as well.
• Literary Scholar Robert Crossley writes, “The American slave narrative is a literary form whose historical boundaries are firmly marked. While first-person narratives about oppression and exclusion will persist as long as racism persists, slave narratives ceased to be written when the last American citizen who had lived under institutionalized slavery died. The only way in which a new slave-memoir could be written is if someone were able to travel into the past, become a slave, and return to tell the story. Because the laws of physics, such as we know them, preclude traveling backwards in time, such a book would have to be a hybrid of autobiographical narrative and scientific fantasy. That is exactly the sort of book Octavia Butler imagined when she wrote Kindred, first published in 1979. Like all good works of fiction, it lies like the truth.” —from Crossley, Robert. “Critical Essay.” Reader’s Guide. https://www.beacon.org/Assets/PDFs/Kindredrg.pdf. Accessed 15 May 2024.
• As you read Kindred, type your responses to the questions below using the link to Microsoft Forms.

1. Where do you see yourself in this story? What part of your lived experience manifests itself in the book?
2. Where are you NOT in this story? What part of the story seems different from the world you know? (Your response to this question might discuss time and history, but it certainly should not stop there).
3. How does this story affect your awareness of slavery in America?
4. How is Butler’s choice to use fiction an effective and/or limiting choice?
5. In what way does the book “[lie] like the truth” and what is the effect of that seeming contradiction?
6. What questions and/or unresolved emotions does the book leave with you?

English 11 IB
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (ISBN: 9780743247542)

Essential Questions for The Glass Castle:

1. What are elements of a memoir?
2. How much choice do we have in our lives? How much is determined by forces beyond our control?
3. What are the benefits/shortcomings of a traditional education?
4. How do socio-economic and mental stability affect our positioning within a community?
5. What forces influence the way we build self-image?
6. What determines a person’s values? What influences whether or not our values are subject to change?

We will be using this unit to review some key elements of writing and how authorial choice creates meaning. Be on the search for:

1. Themes
2. Symbols
3. Characterization (particularly Rose Mary, Rex, Jeanette)
4. Your reactions to the text! I want to know what you think! (Remember: the best way to do this is by writing things like “lol” or “!!!!” or “  ” or “❤” in your margins! This will help you remember certain parts of the book when you come back to school in August!)

English 12 AP
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster (ISBN: 9780062301673)
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (ISBN 9781616202415)

• For AP English 12, please read Thomas Foster’s text How to Read Literature Like a Professor FIRST (the newest edition, please), and then as you read Purple Hibiscus, please be thinking about how to apply several of Foster’s ideas to this novel.

English 12 IB
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (ISBN: 9781501117015)
Please reference the information given in class, or reach out to Mrs. Peery for more information.

English 12: Students must watch two of the three documentaries listed below

In English 12, students will study the ways in which complex, interwoven stories about multiple individuals within a single community can be engaging and powerful. This work will prepare them for the stories they will write in the fall. Prior to their return in August, English 12 students should watch two of the three documentaries listed. These documentaries are available through various streaming services.

For each documentary, students must complete the appropriate Microsoft Form with questions about the film. Students will use these responses, and others, for the work we will do at the start of the semester. Student responses should be detailed and should refer to specific aspects and people in the films. Students should use complete sentences and keep in mind that their teachers have watched the films; therefore, they should avoid summaries lacking analysis or synthesis.

If access to the films poses a financial burden, please contact Nancy Ehringhaus, nancy.ehringhaus@charlottecountryday.org.

1. Welcome to Wrexham, season 1, episodes 1 through 6. Answer these questions.
2. Found. Director: Amanda Lipitz. Answer these questions.
3. Hitsville: The Making of Motown. Directors: Ben Turner and Gabe Turner. Answer these questions.

Download the 2024–25 Dress Code (with pictures) 

The Upper School requires students to attend school properly attired in clothes that are neat, clean, and in good repair. We ask that parents act as partners with the school to guide students in making sound and reasonable choices about what to wear to school. Common sense and discretion should dictate student choice of school clothes. When a student is in doubt about whether a particular outfit or piece of clothing is acceptably within the dress code, it is the student’s responsibility to get an opinion from the Dean’s Office before wearing it.

If clothing is offensive, the student will be asked to change.

Dress Code Expectations (revised 7/30/24)

• All clothing must provide appropriate coverage and fit.
• Undergarments should not be visible.
• Sheer clothing and exposed midsections are not permitted.
• Clothing must appropriately cover the chest, back, and sides.
• Tattered items are considered out of dress code. Small holes or rips are acceptable. 
• T-shirts and collared shirts, regardless of fabric, may be worn every day.
• Leggings paired with a top that provides appropriate 360º coverage of the hips, front, and backside may be worn every day.
• Joggers made of structured fabric with a tapered or cuffed ankle may be worn every day.
• Athletic shorts, athletic skirts, tank tops, sweatpants, and pajamas are not permitted at school. 
• Clothing referencing political parties, candidates, or slogans is not permitted.
• Clothing displaying offensive logos, labels, and phrases or suggesting sex, alcohol, or drugs is strictly off limits.
• Shoes must be worn at all times, both indoors and outdoors.
• Baseball hats, knit hats, or hoods are not permitted indoors; religious head coverings are always permitted.

Appropriate school dress and appearance do not necessarily coincide with current trends and fashions. The Dean’s Office will decide whether a student's dress meets school expectations, even if not specifically covered in this dress code. Students will receive a Teams message notifying them of a dress code infraction and can seek out their Class Dean with questions. On a first infraction, students will be issued a warning. Subsequent infractions will earn a detention and may warrant further consequences. 

Dress-up Days
On certain days throughout the year, students are asked to dress in more formal attire. These include special events, such as JK–12 community gatherings, ceremonies, and visits from distinguished guests. On these days, attire includes a shirt and tie, dress, skirt, or dress slacks with an appropriate top. Denim is not permitted on dress-up days.

Parking 

• Students in grades 10–12 who have already acquired a valid NC driver’s license may park at school, but must obtain a parking sticker. Complete the Parking Sticker Request form to register for a parking sticker.
• All parking spots are numbered and assigned in advance, so it does not matter when a student obtains the sticker. Parking stickers cost $10; cash only.
• After the Parking Sticker Request form has been completed, students may come to campus on the following days to pick up their sticker:
  • Seniors: August 8
  • Juniors: August 9
  • Sophomores: August 12
• 9th graders are not permitted to park at school.
• If a student acquires a driver’s license during the school year, they may obtain a parking sticker through the Upper School office. Parking stickers are not distributed until a student has acquired a driver’s license. 

Lockers

Lockers are optional. Students are invited to get their locker and pick up their parking sticker (if applicable) during the days listed above.

If students are unable to come to campus on those dates, they can obtain their parking sticker and locker on August 19–20 or once school starts. 

Upper School students may purchase both new and/or used textbooks. We partner with MBS/BNC as our online textbook provider for grades 5–12. They secure the books and resources needed for each of the classes offered for the school year.

• Log onto BNC and enter the authentication code 1440. View this PDF for step-by-step instructions.
• The virtual bookstore opens on July 1, 2024 and there is free shipping for orders over $99 from August 2–8 (Note: Upper School schedules will be available August 2).
• Please note: parents are not required to purchase books through MBS Direct.

If you have a 9th grader or a new 10th–12th grader, please plan to attend 9th Grade and New Student Orientation on August 20. Please check in at the Harris Performance Gym by 8:30 am. Student orientation includes walking through schedules, learning Upper School norms and expectations, getting student ID cards, and Microsoft Surface device distribution and training. Please complete the Microsoft Surface Loan Agreement before orientation. After meeting your child’s advisor, we will host a parent/caregiver session in Gorelick Family Theater from 9–10 am. Adults can leave at 10 am; 9th graders should plan to be at school until 1 pm, and new 10th–12th graders until noon.

New Students

• As mentioned above, 9th graders and all new Upper School students will receive their school provided Microsoft Surface device during orientation. Devices will not be ready for distribution prior to August 20.
• New students involved with sports are encouraged to take advantage of their team schedule to sign into their accounts and set up their passwords. They will receive their device during orientation. Here is a link to schedule Surface sign-in for any 9th graders or new students who may not be coordinating with their sports team or who have a timing conflict. Please complete this as soon as possible.
• Parents/caregivers must complete the Surface Loan Agreement prior to issuance of the student Surface device.
• For new students, their password will get set up when they make an appointment using the link above, or when their sports team coordinates the time to do so.

Returning Students

• Returning juniors should make an appointment as soon as possible to pick up their new Surface if they have not done so during their sports team assignments. Please use this link to schedule an appointment if needed. Anyone who is unable to come in before school starts may pick up their device at the Help Desk on August 21 between 7–8  am.
• Please encourage your student to check their Surface device to make sure it is in good working order and that nothing is missing prior to the start of school. Run updates, and if anything needs replacing or repair (broken screen, charger, pen, or kickstand), please put in a Help Desk ticket right away so the issue can be addressed before school starts.
• Parents/caregivers must complete the Surface Loan Agreement prior to issuance of the student Surface device.
• For returning students, passwords remain the same as last year. Please ask your child to check https://outlook.office.com to make sure they can log into Outlook. If your child has forgotten their password and cannot log in, please ask them to visit a member of the Information Systems department to have the password reset. The offices are located in the lower level of Levine near the health room and at the Help Desk in Cannon Hall across from BucsShop.
• Seniors will be required to change their passwords when they arrive back to campus in August.