Hello AP/IB Boosters
It is very simple, easy and no cost to join AP/IB Boosters. Ways to join: At community events, add your name and e-mail to our clipboard, titled, "Join AP/IB Boosters" or just very simply, e-mail your desire to join AP/IB Boosters via e-mail to my attention.
Next week, Heatherwood and Gateway Middle School 8th graders will receive their high school preregistration packets. Our (AP/IB Boosters produced) AP Courses brochure will be included. The 300 Gateway 8th graders are split between Jackson and Cascade high schools. The Gateway 8th graders slated for Jackson, and all of the Heatherwood 8th graders, will receive the Jackson High School specific brochure. The Gateway 8th graders slated for Cascade will receive the Cascade specific AP Courses brochure. Both of these brochures are available for your perusal at:
http://www.apibboosters.org/APIBBrochure.html
Our intent in including the brochures for the middle school 8th graders is to help inform students and their families and encourage thinking about high level high school courses. Also, in schools across the country, it is not unheard of for 9th graders to take AP courses.
The following is an excerpt from a sample AP Chemistry syllabus available at the College Board.
AP Program: La Jolla High School offers two sections of AP Chemistry, which meet five days a week for 55 minutes; there is no extra period for laboratories. Each section usually starts with 30 to 35 students, but many drop the course during the first month. We accept both first- and second-year chemistry students, but demand that they have a strong background in math. Most AP Chemistry students are tenth or eleventh graders who are also in the second-year algebra or pre-calculus classes. Students of any grade may take AP Chemistry, however, and there are always a few ninth graders who enroll. Interestingly, these first-year students have always scored a 5 on the AP Exam. As a group, the seniors have the worst AP Exam results, averaging a pass rate of approximately 50 percent. First-year students generally do better on the exam than second-year students. La Jolla High School administered nearly 500 AP Exams in 1998 with a pass rate of 85 percent. All students who are enrolled in AP Chemistry are required to take the AP Chemistry Exam in May. This is a school rule (at least for the AP science courses) and has been in force for the last five years. The rule is important because it separates those students who are serious about the course from those who are not. Students are responsible for paying their own exam fees and all seem to be able to do so without financial hardship. I have offered to pay the fee in exchange for some lab cleanup work, but no student has ever taken me up on the offer.
The rest of this syllabus and other example syllabi for all of the 35 AP Courses can be found from links provided at the following AP/IB Boosters web site page:
http://www.apibboosters.org/SampleAPExam.html
Course descriptions and sample AP Exams are also referenced.
Events coming up next week.
Thank you,
Todd Aagard
AP/IB Booster Chairperson
Advanced Placement
Opportunities for All Students
www.apibboosters.org
info@apibboosters.org