The Rye Middle School English program encompasses literature, composition, collaboration, and creativity to foster critical thinking. The literature taught is designed to encourage a love of reading and to develop vocabulary, comprehension, and analytical skills by exposing students to a variety of classic and modern works. 

As students move through the grades, a greater emphasis on writing prepares them for the demands of high school. The teaching of grammar and its application to the mechanics of writing is taught in sixth and seventh grade and is reinforced in eighth grade. Reading and writing experiences provide the basis for communicating effectively, thinking collaboratively, and creatively solving problems in a diverse global environment.