Advanced Placement / Accelerated Placement

Advanced Placement

Advanced Placement is a program of college-level courses and exams that allow high school students the opportunity to receive advanced placement and/or credit in college. The content of these college-level courses is determined by the College Board.

AP Course Benefits

AP examinations offer students the following benefits:

• The opportunity to sharpen academic skills, allowing them to enter college with the confidence that they can succeed
• Exemption by the college or university from introductory courses and permission to take higher-level courses, enabling students to move ahead in areas of interest
• An opportunity to demonstrate to colleges the ability to successfully pursue rigorous coursework
• Academic credit that can give them a head start in college
• Tuition savings – a year or more of credit may be granted for a sufficient number of qualifying AP grades
• Time to explore undergraduate subject areas that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to study, and time to pursue internships or to study abroad
• The opportunity and satisfaction of meeting a challenge.
• Eligibility for collegiate honors and other special programs open to students who have received AP recognition

AP Exams Scores

Every examination receives an overall grade on a five-point scale:

Scoring 3, 4 or 5 on an exam is considered an "honor grade." Colleges typically place greater emphasis on AP exam results that have earned honor grades. In addition, the College Board has an AP Scholar recognition program that honors those students who meet defined standards on AP exams.

Ridgewood AP Course Offerings

• AP Biology
• AP Calculus AB
• AP Chemistry
• AP English Language and Composition
• AP English Literature and Composition
• AP Government
• AP Human Geography
• AP Italian Language and Culture
• AP Music Theory
• AP Psychology
• AP Spanish Language
• AP United States History
• AP Physics 1
• AP Computer Science Principles

 

 

ACCELERATED PLACEMENT PROGRAM

Overview

• The District’s Accelerated Placement Program (APP) places qualified students in an educational setting that includes curriculum usually reserved for students who are older or in higher grades than the student, and is implemented by the Superintendent in alignment with 105 ILCS 5/14A-17.
• The APP advances the District’s goal of providing educational programs with opportunities for each student to develop to his or her maximum potential.
• APP options include, but may not be limited to: (a) accelerating a student in a single subject; (b) other grade-level acceleration; and (c) option for student to enroll in alternative coursework that better aligns with the student’s postsecondary education or career goals. 

RHS APP Process

• Prior to the registration process for subsequent school years, students will take the NWEA Fall MAP exam in order to determine eligibility for accelerated placement.
• RHS staff will utilize the NWEA MAP results, along with applicable and relevant PSAT results, to determine students who are eligible for accelerated placement. 
• Families will be notified if their student is eligible for accelerated placement in English, Math, and/or Science courses.
• Families who choose to exempt their student from automatic acceleration can do so by completing the Automatic Acceleration Exemption Form on Skyward.