Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) Course Advice

HONORS COURSES

1. Honors courses are designed for students who are identified as "gifted" in a particular subject area. "Gifted" generally means that a student meets at least the majority of the following criteria:

English Direct Writing Score of 5 or 6 CAT 6 Language and/or Reading score 95% or higher "Advanced" CST Score (Language and/or Reading) "A" grades in English

Math "Advanced" CST score CAT 6 Math score 95% or higher "A" grades in math

2. Honors courses can be extremely time-consuming because they require HOMEWORK. Understand that even if  your student has test scores in the 100th percentile, s/he may FAIL an honors class if s/he does not do the work.

3. Because honors courses are more demanding and time-consuming than college-preparatory courses, students will most likely not be successful in them unless they are interested in the subject matter.

Think of honors classes for your student as being supported by three factors. One factor is ability, the second factor is time, and the third factor is interest. Without all three, some aspect in your student's life (their happiness, extracurricular pursuits, friendships, relationships with their families, other grades and, in some cases, mental well-being) may be adversely impacted.

Although a student does not HAVE to be "GATE" qualified in order to enroll in an honors course, students who do not meet the criteria outlined above must submit a waiver if they decide to take an honors course. If you have read everything above and if you do not meet the suggested criteria, please attach the following waiver to your registration form if you want to enroll in an honors course  HONORS WAIVER.

ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) COURSES

The Advanced Placement Program includes college-level courses that are designed by the College Board. They are designed for committed students who wish to push themselves academically at a college level while they are still in high school. AP exams are administered in May and, if a student scores at a certain level, SOME colleges grant students credit or placement.

AP courses are not guaranteed in one term or the other. If you take one in the Fall you will have to "refresh" your memory if you hope to do well on the May exam, and if you take one in the Spring you will have to "cram" sometimes on your own time if you hope to do well on the May exam. We have no control over when the College Board offers AP tests, and we cannot offer all APs in either term. Our recommendation is to balance your schedule according to workload, not test dates!  Also, keep in mind that most colleges require SAT II tests for admissions, and none REQUIRE AP tests. SAT IIs are offered throughout the year, so plan your test dates accordingly.

For a more complete description of the AP program, click HERE.

Before you make the decision to sign up for an honors or AP course, PLEASE consider the following:

•  Taking an honors or AP course only because "colleges like it" is usually not a good idea.
•  Taking an honors or AP course just because a friend is in the class is usually not a good idea.
•  Taking an honors or AP course without having the ability, time and interest is usually not a good idea.