Students in an Advanced Placement (AP) class are provided with a rigorous, rich, and thorough examination of the subject matter and college-level work. Most colleges and universities take into account the level of difficulty of the courses taken by student applicants – and the most competitive colleges prefer students who push themselves to take advanced classes.
In addition to receiving a traditional grade that counts towards an overall GPA, students taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses are also expected to take Advanced Placement (AP) exams developed by the College Board. AP exams are a combination of multiple-choice and written responses. Advanced Placement (AP) exams are scored on a 5-point scale, with 3 being the minimum score that most competitive colleges accept.
On August 13, 2015, HB 3428 was signed into law amending The College and Career Success for All Students Act (Public Act 099-0358) which now provides that a student who takes a College Board Advanced Placement examination and receives a score of 3 or higher on the examination is entitled to receive postsecondary level course credit at an Illinois public institution of higher education. The Act requires each public institution of higher education to comply with the same standard of awarding course credit to any student receiving a score of 3 or higher on a College Board Advanced Placement examination and applying the credit to meet a corresponding course requirement for degree completion at that institution of higher education.
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
Open to: 11
Prerequisite: Placement criteria and Department approval
Credit 1.0 - English Core Credit *NCAA
AP English Language and Composition engages students in becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading should make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects, as well as the way genre conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing. Students enrolling in English Language and Composition can expect significant reading and writing assignments, most of which will be completed outside of class. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP English Language and Composition exam in May.
Advanced Placement Calculus A/B
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement Criteria
Credit: 1.0 Mathematics Elective Credit *NCAA
AP Calculus A/B introduces students to the first few topics of college-level calculus, including independent limits, continuity, parametric equations, differential, and integral calculus. Students that successfully complete this class are expected to take the advanced placement test and can possibly earn college credit. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the Calculus A/B exam in May.
Advanced Placement Calculus B/C
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement Criteria
Credit: 1.0 Mathematics Elective Credit *NCAA
This Advanced Placement course in differential and integral calculus with a faster pace than Calculus A/B. Students that successfully complete this class are expected to take the advanced placement test and can possibly earn college credit. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the Calculus B/C exam in May.
Advanced Placement Statistics
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement Criteria
Credit: 1.0 Mathematics Elective Credit *NCAA
Advanced Placement Statistics is the study of how to collect, organize, analyze and interpret numerical information from data. This course will teach students how to make decisions while using statistical techniques. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the Statistics exam in May.
Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles
Open to: 9, 10, 11, 12
Prerequisite: Algebra 1
Credit: 1.0 Mathematics Elective Credit *NCAA
The course introduces students to the foundational concepts of computer science and challenges them to explore how computing and technology can impact the world. The AP Program designed AP Computer Science Principles with the goal of creating leaders in computer science fields and attracting and engaging those who are traditionally underrepresented with essential computing tools and multidisciplinary opportunities. This course focuses on seven essential frameworks which are essential to studying computer science: creativity, abstraction, data and information, algorithms, programming, and the Internet. This course requires a personal computing device and an Internet connection. Students enrolled in the course will be prepared to submit the Explore and Create Performances Tasks at the end of April and to take the AP Computer Science Principles Exam in May.
Advanced Placement Computer Science A – Java
Open to: 10, 11, 12
Prerequisites – Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles or Algebra 1
Credit: 1.0 Mathematics Elective Credit *NCAA
Students will learn to design and implement computer programs that solve problems relevant to today’s society, including art, media, and engineering. This course teaches object-oriented programming using the Java language and is meant to be the equivalent of a first-semester, college-level course in computer science. It will emphasize problem-solving and algorithm development, design strategies, and methodologies, organization of data (data structures), approaches to processing data (algorithms), analysis of potential solutions, and ethical and social implications of computing.
Advanced Placement Music Theory
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Departmental Approval.
Credit 1.0 – Fine Arts Credit
The AP Music Theory course is a yearlong course designed to develop a student’s ability to recognize, understand and describe the basic materials and processes of music that are heard or presented in a score. The achievement of this goal is achieved through integrated approaches to the student’s development of aural, sight-singing, writing, compositional and analytical skills through a variety of listening, performance, written, creative and analytical exercises. This course is aligned with the College Board and Advanced Placement Program and its assessment program. At the completion of the course, students will be prepared to take College Board’s Advanced Placement Music Theory Exam. This course is recommended for students planning to attend college and pursue studies in the fields of music performance, music composition, or music education.
Advanced Placement Studio Art
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Departmental approval
Credit 1.0 – Fine Arts Credit
AP Studio Art is for highly motivated students who are seriously interested in the study of art. Students will need to work outside the classroom, as well as in it, and beyond scheduled periods. Students should be responsible enough to leave the art room or school if an assignment requires them to do so. Homework, such as maintaining a sketchbook or journal, is a necessary component of instruction. Critiques, a common structure in the college classroom, are important in AP as well. Group and individual critiques enable students to learn to analyze their own work and their peers’ work. Ongoing critical analysis, through individual critiques, enables both the students and the teacher to assess the strengths and weaknesses in the work. Completion of assigned summer work is required. Students who enroll in AP Studio Art will be prepared to submit a portfolio in May for evaluation by the College Board.
Advanced Placement Biology
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement criteria and Administrative approval
Credit 1.0 – Science Core Credit *NCAA
(60 minute period)
AP Biology provides students with a solid foundation equivalent to a first-year college-level biology course. The big ideas explored in this course are evolution and biodiversity, energy use, information, and system interactions. Extensive inquiry-based laboratory work is a major component of this course. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP Biology exam in May. Completion of a summer assignment is required.
Advanced Placement Chemistry
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement criteria and Administrative approval
Credit 1.0 – Science Elective Credit *NCAA
(60 minute period)
AP Chemistry offers a solid foundation equivalent to a first-year college chemistry course. Students will explore a broad range of chemistry topics with emphasis on chemical calculations, mathematical formulation of principles, and extensive laboratory work. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP Chemistry exam in May.
Advanced Placement Environmental Science
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement criteria and Administrative approval
Credit 1.0 – Science Elective Credit *NCAA
(60 minute period)
AP Environmental Science provides students with a solid foundation equivalent to a first-year college-level environmental science course. Students will explore the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made, evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP Environmental Science exam in May.
Advanced Placement Physics 1
Open to: 9, 10, 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement criteria and Administrative approval
Credit 1.0 – Science Core Credit or Science Elective Credit *NCAA
(60 minute period)
AP Physics 1 provides students with an algebra-based introduction to the study of physics equivalent to a first-semester college physics course. Students will explore principles of Newtonian mechanics, work, energy, mechanical waves and sound, and simple circuits. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP Physics 1 exam in May.
Advanced Placement Physics C
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement criteria and Administrative approval, AP Calculus or concurrent enrollment
Credit 1.0 – Science Elective Credit *NCAA
(60 minute class period)
AP Physics C provides students with a college-level, calculus-based, introduction to physics. Topics are covered in greater depth and with analytical and mathematical sophistication, including extensive calculus applications. The first semester is devoted to mechanics and the second semester explores classical electricity and magnetism using calculus in formulating principles and problem-solving. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP Physics Mechanics, and Electricity and Magnetism exams in May.
Advanced Placement Psychology
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: C or better in Biology and successful completion or co-enrollment in an advanced math course.
Credit 1.0 - Social Science Credit *NCAA
Students will increase their understanding of psychology, its methods, theory, and research. AP Psychology is a survey course, so students focus on bits of information from many different areas in psychology. Primarily, the course explores the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields of psychology (consciousness, learning, personality, cognition, etc.). Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP Psychology exam in May.
Advanced Placement United States Government & Politics
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement criteria and Department approval
Credit 1.0 - Social Science Credit *NCAA
Successful completion of this class fulfills the economics requirement otherwise fulfilled by Personal Finance or Introduction to Business.
US Constitution Exam Required for Graduation
Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics presents students with an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States. Students will learn the general concepts used to interpret U.S. politics and the analysis of specific case studies. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP United States Government & Politics exam in May.
Advanced Placement United States History
Open to: 10, 12
Prerequisite: Placement criteria and Department approval
Credit 1.0 - Social Science Credit *NCAA
This course is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in U.S. history. The course prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP United States History exam during the spring semester.
Advanced Placement World History
Open to: 11, 12
Prerequisite: Placement criteria and Department approval
Credit 1.0 - Social Science Credit *NCAA
Advanced Placement World History provides students with a college-level introduction to the study of World History. This course is a sophisticated quest for meaning about the past, beyond the effort to collect information. This course emphasizes students’ ability to craft historical arguments from historical evidence, reason chronologically, compare and contextualize, and interpret and synthesize historical information in a classroom setting. Students enrolled in this course will be prepared to take the AP World History exam in May.
Advanced Placement French 5
Open to: 12
Prerequisite: French 4 with “C” or better
Credit 1.0 – World Language Credit
This course is designed to develop students' fluency in French using more sophisticated language patterns in grammar and vocabulary. French is used exclusively for instruction, discussion, writing assignments, sketches, and presentations. Students are expected to speak only French. A variety of genres and epochs of French literature, history, culture, current events, and films provide authentic material. At least one AP French Language and Culture theme is studied each month. They are Family and Community, Personal and Public Identities, Science and Technology, Global Challenges, Beauty and the Arts, and Contemporary Life. Students who enroll in this course will be prepared to take the AP French exam in May.
Advanced Placement Spanish Language 5
Open to: 12
Prerequisite: Spanish Language 4 with “C” or better, or Department Approval
Credit 1.0 – World Language Credit
This course is designed to further students’ knowledge of the Spanish language and culture through the use of real literature, writing and culture. Grammar skills, interpersonal and formal/informal oral communication skills are also stressed. Students acquire the skills necessary to be successful on the AP Exam and broaden their understanding of the cultures that make up the Spanish-speaking world. They also can easily make the connection between using Spanish in the formal, academic setting and their daily lives. The course is given entirely in Spanish at this level. Students who enroll in this course will be prepared to take the AP Spanish Language exam in May. This course is also offered for students in the Dual Language program.