Advanced Placement® Information Night 2012 CASTLE HIGH SCHOOL

AP Courses at Castle English Literature – Beth Euler English Language – Fred Bracher US History – Emily Garrett Government – Emily Garrett Physics – Tom Dahlquist Calculus – Bruce Nance Chemistry – Pat Lockyear Biology – Jill Ohlsen European History – Geoff Bennett

Tonight’s Program Benefits of AP® College Expectations Skills needed in AP® Handling the Stress Earning College Credit Selecting the Right AP® Courses Academic Honors Diploma Valedictorian

Benefits of AP® Earn College Credit and Advanced Placement® Stand Out in the College Admissions Process Demonstrate your maturity and readiness for college. Show your willingness to take the most rigorous courses available to you. Emphasize your commitment to academic excellence.

What is AP ®? The CollegeBoard’s Advanced Placement ® program enables students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school. This is a national program. Discussions are intense, probing, and demanding. AP ® classes teach students to analyze, reason and understand the world from different vantage points. AP ® students are required to think for themselves.

AP® Students succeed at College: (Newsweek, October 2009) The average student now take 6 years and 7 months to complete an undergraduate degree. College retention rates from first to second year stand at 65.7%.  That means 34.3% of college freshmen do not return. AP® students not only finish their freshman year, but also average completing their degree in four years. Currently one in five college students arrive at college with Advanced Placement ® credits amounting to a semester or more of college-level work.

College Expectations A strong schedule is more important than a high Grade Point Average. Colleges and universities examine a student’s academic rigor before his or her G.P.A.

College Expectations Advanced placement classes are necessary for students to be admitted to competitive colleges and earn scholarships. Taking AP® courses is the key to helping students transition to college.  

AP® Skills Reading beyond comprehension Memorization is a given Interact with the text; read with a pen in hand Write with a Purpose You think about the best way to communicate your ideas through written language You understand that different assignments require different modes/styles of writing Ask questions You see connections between classes, readings, etc. Write these questions in the margin of your reading You approach the instructor with your questions You look up information on your own

Handling the Stressful Times Delay major decision making- especially when it comes to dropping AP® courses Work with your student to resolve his or her concerns rather than jumping to the conclusion that the class is not a good fit. Help your student: be a problem solver - teach your student how to approach a teacher or counselor when there is a concern work through mistakes. For example, if a student falls behind on a reading assignment, work together on a plan for managing the make-up work. understand that he or she will adjust to the work load and expectations

Handling Stress   Recognize the value of the AP® course - not just the letter grade Students are often concerned that their grades will go down- especially during the first few weeks of the course. An examination of transcripts of Castle students who have taken AP® courses has shown that students’ grades stay consistent with the grades the students were earning in their classes prior to taking AP® Courses.

Earn College Credit and Advanced Placement Receive recognition from more than 3,600 colleges and universities that annually receive AP® Exam scores. Over 90% of 4-year colleges in the U.S. provide credit and/or advanced placement for qualifying scores.

Earn College Credit and Advanced Placement in Indiana PL 91 (HB 1135), signed into law 3/18/10 states: Starting with the 2011 Advanced Placement (AP) exams, students who earn a score of 3 or higher shall receive college credit towards their degree if they attend any Indiana public institution of higher education; this includes all two and four year schools and any accompanying satellites. •Indiana public institutions of higher education may require a score higher than 3 to award credit for a course that is part of a student’s major but the student will still receive elective credit that counts toward their overall degree requirements to graduate from college.

Taking the AP ® test Students should take the AP® test(s) that are given each spring. These tests are created and assessed by the National College Board. Students may earn credit or advanced placement status for qualifying scores. Testing information is available on the West website. The College Board website also provides information.

Selecting the Right AP® Courses Courses should be chosen on a students’ strengths, interests, and college requirements. Students should have a healthy curiosity about the course and be ready to work hard. Check the pre-requisites

Academic Honors Diploma The Academic Honors diploma instituted by the Indiana State Board of Education is intended to bring honor to those students who choose challenging courses and accumulate 47 credits in high school. To be eligible for an Academic honors diploma, a student must have a grade point average of “B” (3.0) or above. The awarding of this diploma will be noted on the student’s transcript. No grade lower than a “C” may count toward the diploma.

Academic Honors Diploma Complete all requirements for Core 40. Earn 2 additional Core 40 math credits. Earn 6-8 Core 40 world language credits (6 credits in one language or 4 credits each in two languages). Earn 2 Core 40 fine arts credits. Earn a grade of a “C” or better in courses that will count toward the diploma. Have a grade point average of a “B” or better.

Academic Honors Diploma Complete one of the following: Earn 4 credits in 2 or more AP courses and take corresponding AP exams Earn 6 verifiable transcripted college credits in dual credit courses from priority course list Earn two of the following: A minimum of 3 verifiable transcripted college credits from the priority course list, 2 credits in AP courses and corresponding AP exams, Earn a combined score of 1750 or higher on the SAT critical reading, mathematics and writing sections and a minimum score of 530 on each Earn an ACT composite score of 26 or higher and complete written section

Valedictorian – Castle High School Beginning with the Class of 2015 Valedictorian – Student with the highest GPA who has taken at least 5 AP courses. Salutatorian – Student with the second highest GPA who has taken at least 5 AP courses. * There may be ties.

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