By Rachael Mintz
Photo by Rachael Mintz
Many Coronado students know the feeling of being slammed with homework from multiple AP classes on top of their honors classes and feeling as if teachers have no idea how much work they are actually giving their students. Luckily for those students, things are about to change.
As of the 2014-15 school year, Coronado will be the first and only school in the district to welcome a new program for those students looking to get ahead in their schooling. Coronado’s Academy of AP will give students the opportunity to take Advanced Placement courses while also being involved in a higher program.
The AP Academy is a program designed for incoming freshmen, but returning students will be able to transition quite easily. Students will have to apply to the academy and be expected to reach a certain number of credentials to be accepted.
Once accepted, students will be required to take a certain amount of AP credits each year and maintain a certain GPA as well. Some might see this as challenging, but AP teachers are looking to have more communication amongst one another to try and make things more manageable and less stressful for students.
“The goal is to get the teachers to communicate more from island to island to try to make it more of a system that helps all of the students succeed,” Mr. Anderson, AP department chair, said.
This program will be something that is recognized at graduation, on resumes, and on transcripts. Just like National Honor Society, the AP Academy will have an induction ceremony. Students that enroll in the AP Academy will be able to get a head start on their college work and be better prepared for what is to come.
“Our plan is to make it more appealing and give students more of an incentive to take AP courses,” Mr. Piccininni, principal, said.
Those students who wish to take an individual AP class and not be enrolled in the AP Academy may do so. AP classes will not be exclusionary to the AP Academy students.
With this new program, come new AP classes. Environmental science will be added to the list of Advanced Placement classes already offered. Macro/Microeconomics along with European History are also courses that will be added in the future.
With many details still in the works, students will need to look on the school website for final announcements about when to apply for next year’s AP Academy.
