Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement (AP) is a nationally recognized college curriculum that offers our students the opportunity to do college work while still in high school. All AP designated courses are certified by College Board’s yearly audit process as college level instruction. Students follow a prescribed rigorous curriculum, including summer reading assignments, to prepare them to make a qualifying grade of 3 or above on the AP exam given in May.
Over the past decade, the Bishop McGuinness AP program has had significant growth, as equity and access has increased. In 2010, it offered nine AP courses, with 31.3 percent of seniors having taken at least one AP exam. In 2020-21, Bishop McGuinness offered 22 AP courses – including AP Art History, Microeconomics, Computer Science A, French, Latin and Physics C. Sixty-four percent of recent graduates took at least one AP exam during their four years – the national average is 39 percent – earning more than 1,200 collective hours of college credit.
Please feel free to contact Mrs. Jennifer Collins-Worthington, AP student coordinator, if you have any other questions!
AP SCHOLARS
The College Board released the Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar Awards for the 2020-21 school year. Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School is proud to announce 105 of its students earned this recognition for their exceptional achievement on the 2020-21 exams. In total, 282 students took 530 exams with 77 percent of students earning a score of 3 or higher.
The College Board’s AP Program® provides willing and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. Each exam is developed by a committee of college and university faculty and AP teachers, ensuring the Exams align with college professor’s standards. Research consistently shows that students who score a 3 or higher on AP Exams typically experience greater academic success in college, as well as have higher college graduation rates than students who do not participate in AP. The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on AP Exams – AP Scholar, AP Scholar with Honor, AP Scholar with Distinction, and National AP Scholar.