Northridge emphasizes the urgency the need to learn "how to write.” We  focus on “writing” and the unique learned skill required in order to organize thoughts and put them on paper so that others will be able to understand and enjoy them. Northridge does not assume that all students have learned the “Art of Writing” some time earlier in their education career.  Students today will be asked to “write” on all future SAT and ACT examinations. They must also produce an essay as part of their college admissions process. Is your son prepared? At Northridge your son will have the opportunity to work with faculty like Dr. Jerry Shepherd, author of eight books and our Director of Guidance. Dr. Shepherd founded the Northridge Creative Writing Club for the express purpose of providing our students a special vehicle in which they could be “pushed, and challenged” to learn how to write and to enjoy writing.

Writing at NRP – Alumni Comments:

"I’ve heard it said that sloppy writing indicates sloppy thinking. What NRP gave me were the techniques for approaching clarity in both. The writing club helped me aim at making poems and stories that were more than adolescent grousing; it’s probably through those meetings that I realized that there is as much craft to writing as there is art." - Greg Ford (’88), Editor, 6x6 poetry magazine and member of Ugly Duckling Press

"Northridge did a great job teaching us to write effectively. So many students in college feel unprepared and overwhelmed by both the quantity and the sophistication that professors expect in their writing. I left Northridge with the confidence that my writing is eloquent and persuasive." - Timothy Noetzel (‘04), Founder, Elysium, a Tufts University Creative Writing Group; Opinion Editor, Tufts Observer.

 "The teachers at Northridge inspired me to become a professional writer. Paul and George Herman and Dr. Jerry Shepherd opened up the vistas of literature for us. At the same time, they drilled into all their students the principle that sound grammar lays the foundation for clear writing. When someone asks me when I knew I wanted to be a writer, I tell him, 'When I was at Northridge.'" - Liam Ford (’87), Chicago Tribune Staff Reporter, Author