Advanced Placement Courses
Advanced Placement (AP) classes are administered by the College Board using approved curricula that are equivalent to undergraduate college courses. These classes move through material with greater speed and depth than high school classes. In May, participating students sit for the related AP exam from the College Board. Rising juniors can apply to up to two (2) AP classes which are in the same band of courses. Rising seniors can apply to up to three (3) AP classes which are in the same band of courses as long as one of those courses is AP Calculus BC or AP Statistics. Applicants will be offered seats based on their current course grade and current year GPA. AP acceptances are binding. If accepted, extenuating circumstances to opt out need to be presented for Principal approval prior to the start of the school year. Consult the FAQ for AP Classes document for more information.
Advanced Placement (AP) English Language & Composition
Prerequisite: English 10
Full year, 2 credits
Grades 11 & 12. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course is designed to help students become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of non-fiction contexts and to become skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading will make students aware of the interactions among a writer's purposes, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way conventions and language contribute to effectiveness in writing. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course. Juniors in this course must also take the New York State English Language Arts Regents exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) English Literature & Composition
Prerequisite: Grade 11 English
Full year, 2 credits
Grade 12. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course will be offered to students who are interested in studying literature with greater depth, detail, and individual analysis. Students cultivate their understanding of literature through reading and analyzing texts as they explore concepts like character, setting, structure, perspective, figurative language, and literary analysis in the context of literary works. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish Language & Culture
Prerequisite: Spanish III*
Full year, 2 credits
Grades 11 & 12. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course fosters language proficiency by exercising the connections among comprehension and comprehensibility, vocabulary usage, language control, communication strategies, and cultural awareness. Teacher instruction and student participation are conducted entirely in the target language while students explore and study authentic products (art, texts, institutions, et cetera), practices, and perspectives of the various Spanish-speaking cultures around the world. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course. *Students who have passed Spanish II will be considered based on individual evaluation and teacher recommendation.
Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus BC
Prerequisite: Precalculus
Full year, 2 credits
Grade 12. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course will focus on three big ideas: change; limits; and function analysis. Students continue to build on their knowledge of limits and differentiation to further investigate the study of change in a variety of contexts. Students will learn integration and its applications in a 3-dimensional space to further understand the behavior of functions in relation to the concept of limits. Students will also analyze functions (polynomial, exponential, rational, trigonometric, polar, and parametric) using derivatives and integrals as well as using infinite series to represent specific functions. Students are required to use extensive analytical, interpretation, and reasoning skills to solve challenging math problems as well as use abstract thinking skills to investigate a variety of practical phenomena. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics
Prerequisite: Algebra II
Full year, 2 credits
Grade 12. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course is equivalent to an introductory, non-calculus-based college course in statistics. The course introduces students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. There are four themes in the AP Statistics course: exploring data; sampling and experimentation; anticipating patterns; and statistical inference. Students use technology, investigations, problem solving, and writing as they build conceptual understanding. Statistics is commonly used in many fields: the sciences, the social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.), business and economics, political science and government, law, and medicine. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) Biology
Prerequisites: Biology, Chemistry
Full year, 2 credits
Grades 11 & 12. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course is designed to help students become knowledgeable in four main ideas: evolution; cellular processes; genetics and information transfer; and interactions within biological systems. Content will be covered in more depth and greater expectations will be placed on interpretation and analysis of information than previous Biology courses. In addition, statistical analysis of data and modeling of concepts will be expected. There is an emphasis placed on scientific thinking and analytical thinking, therefore allowing more time in class for labs and discussions. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry
Prerequisites: Biology, Chemistry
Full year, 2 credits
Grade 11. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course provides students with a college-level foundation in chemistry. Students cultivate their understanding of chemistry through inquiry-based wet-chemistry and simulated laboratory investigations, as they explore topics such as: atomic structure; intermolecular forces and bonding; chemical reactions; kinetics; thermodynamics; acids and bases; and advanced chemical equilibria. Much of the course will involve flipped lectures where students view basic informational material online at home so that they are ready to work with this content during class sessions. The course material is significantly more advanced than NYS Regents Chemistry. Students should expect a challenge, be comfortable in a laboratory setting, be self-directed, and prepared to work independently as well as in groups. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) Physics 2
Prerequisite: Physics
Full year, 2 credits
Grade 12. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course builds upon the foundations from Physics (mechanics topics). The combination of challenging high-level questions (as presented on recent College Board exams), expectations for detailed process work, and the abstract nature of many topics results in notably increased rigor. Students will explore topics including thermodynamics, electrostatics, electric circuits, electromagnetism, wave phenomena, geometric optics, and principles of modern physics. The course is based on selected big ideas, which encompass core scientific principles, theories, and processes that cut across traditional boundaries and provide a broad way of thinking about the physical world. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) United States History
Prerequisite: Global History II
Full year, 2 credits
Grade 11. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course is designed as a college-level experience that will prepare students for the AP United States History Exam, and participants will be selected based on a formal application process. The course will cover American history from the pre-colonial era through the early 21st century. Students will be expected to independently read numerous course texts, write analytical essays and document based essays, and complete a variety of individual and group projects, with a particular emphasis on interpretation of primary source documents and historical argumentation. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam and the New York State United Stated History & Government Exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) World History: Modern
Prerequisite: N/A
Full year, 2 credits, Grades 11, 12 (Enrollment is application-based)
This intensive course is designed as a college-level experience that will prepare students for the AP World History: Modern exam, and participants will be selected based on a formal application process. World History: Modern focuses on connections, comparisons, and changes over time on a global scale. The course will cover approximately 1200 C.E to the present with an emphasis on political developments, social hierarchies, economic trends, belief systems, and constructions of gender, race, and ethnicity. Students will be expected to independently read numerous course texts, write analytical and documents-based essays, and complete a variety of individual and group projects, with a particular emphasis on interpretation of primary source documents and historical argumentation. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) Art History
Prerequisites: Art 9, Art 10
Full year, 2 credits
Grades 11 & 12. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course is designed to allow students to research, discuss, read, and write about art, artists, art making, and responses to and interpretations of art. By investigating 250 works of art characterized by diverse artistic traditions from prehistory to the present, students will develop in-depth, holistic understanding of the history of art from a global perspective. Students learn and apply skills of visual, contextual, and comparative analysis to engage with a variety of art forms, developing understanding of individual works and connections across history. Students must take the Advanced Placement exam at the end of the course.
Advanced Placement (AP) Studio Art
Prerequisites: Art 9, Art 10
Full year, 2 credits
Grades 11 & 12. Enrollment is application-based.
This intensive course is designed for students to pursue in-depth and sustained investigation of ideas, materials, and processes that builds towards a dedicated art portfolio. Students can choose between AP Drawing (focused on elements of art and emphasis on drawing skills like mark making, line, surface, space, light and shade, and composition) or AP 2-D Art and Design (emphasis on principles of design in a variety of mediums such as graphic design, photography, collage, printmaking, fashion illustration, and collage). Students will hone their skills in developing concepts through research and inquiry, experimenting with materials through exploration and practice, and learning to revise and reflect upon their artwork and artistic process. Students must submit an Advanced Placement portfolio at the end of the course.
