For the 2010-11 school year, Island Trees High School opened up our Advanced Placement (AP) classes to more students. AP is the national benchmark for high school excellence, and the associated course work is one of the key requirements for enrollment into the best colleges and universities. In fact, the research shows students who take these rigorous classes are better prepared for college courses and tend to graduate in the traditional four year timeframe. Naturally, most colleges understand this and factor this into their selection process. They want students who take challenging course work.
In my experience, more often than not, students rise to the level expected of them. With a little push, “average” kids can excel and be successful with “above average” work. The district was confident we had many more students who could be successful with the AP program if given the opportunity. As a result of accelerating students into the AP program, we went from 184 exams during the 2009-10 school year to 330 in 2010-11, an increase of 146 – quite significant. In 2009-10, we had 124 students pass the AP exam with a three (3+) or better, and remarkably, we had 207 students pass AP exams in 2010-11 – more than participated in the program the year before. In fact, we had 83 more students pass the AP exams!
For this school year we have 384 students registered for AP coursework – up from even last year. We have more and more students who believe they can meet the expectations in these challenging classes. We hope to have more and more students engaged in AP programs – the most competitive and demanding course work in the county. Equally impressively, the data shows our kids can compete since overall 63 percent of our kids passed their AP exams where nationwide this figure was 60 percent. Island Trees students can!
If you have additional questions about Advanced Placement (AP) programs, please contact your child’s guidance counselor or speak with Mr. Grande at Island Trees High School.
