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Saint Mary's College High School

Lasallian Catholic Education Since 1863


Advanced Placement

Consistent with its mission as a Lasallian college preparatory school, Saint Mary’s offers a number of Advanced Placement courses to its students. An established, nationally recognized program, Advanced Placement courses are available to students who are willing to undertake more complex, challenging course work. The foundation for the skills and knowledge a student must master to succeed in an Advanced Placement course is laid in the college-prep program beginning in the Saint Mary’s student’s freshmen year and built upon in each succeeding year. In general, superior performance in appropriate college-preparatory courses suggests readiness for Advanced Placement work. While Advanced Placement courses often emphasize a broad range of topics to study, Saint Mary’s Advanced Placement teachers may emphasize additional topics and skills students need to succeed at the college level.

The Expectations & Challenges of Advanced Placement for Saint Mary's Students

Saint Mary’s is committed to the education of the whole person, and the school works with students and parents to balance students’ academic, spiritual, and co-curricular demands so that they can ably manage the challenges of high-school life. All students who meet the graduation requirements of Saint Mary’s are prepared for college coursework. AP courses are very rigorous, and they accelerate students’ preparation for college. Each AP course poses its own distinct challenges, and as a result departments have identified specific guidelines and indicators to assist faculty, administrators, students, and parents in determining whether a student is prepared for the challenges of an AP course. These guidelines may include minimum grade-point averages, course prerequisites, placement examinations, portfolios of student work, and teacher recommendations.


While Saint Mary’s encourages students to challenge themselves academically, we also counsel prudence in course selection so that academic challenges are beneficial and not detrimental to student development. Parents of any student who intends to take an AP course must attend the AP Information Meeting in April with their student. Once admitted to an AP course, a Saint Mary’s student must be committed to completing the course and any preceding summer work. Students will not be dropped from an AP course roster without the approval of the Administration. Saint Mary’s requires that students enrolled in an AP course will take the culminating College Board AP exams. (Families will be billed directly for the AP exam fees (about $80 each) along with tuition to facilitate payment over several months. Fee reduction waivers are available to those who qualify.) In cases when the school is concerned a student might be overextending himself/ or herself by taking an AP course, parents and students may be asked to agree in writing that the student and parents understand the challenges of AP coursework and that the student will complete the course.

All AP courses are required to have a final examination in the fall and a final assessment in the spring semester, distinct from the colege Board’s AP examination. Course content will be taught through the end of the semester, regardless of the date of the AP exam. Students may be excused from all classes on the day of their AP exam, but they must report to classes before or after their exam if they will exceed absence limit for the semester. Students must not miss classes to study for AP exams.

Interpretation of Individual & School-Wide AP Exam Performance
In addition to achieving the Saint Mary’s learning outcomes, a key goal for Advanced Placement students is performing successfully on the Advanced Placement exams. Saint Mary’s recognizes that students who successfully complete AP courses [and the subsequent AP exams] may derive a benefit in gaining admission to the colleges and universities of their choice. While Saint Mary’s is proud of the success of its students on AP exams, “pass rates” alone do not indicate instructional excellence. More significant is the high number of Saint Mary’s students willing and able to take on the educational challenge of AP courses.

The Effect of AP Courses on Grade-Point Averages
AP course grades are based on the student’s academic achievement in the course, not the student’s performance on the AP exam in May. Saint Mary’s students’ grade-point averages, as published on student transcripts, are unweighted. Students’ grades in Advanced Placement & Honors courses at Saint Mary’s do carry an additional grade point value, which is used internally for academic honors and registration and is not published. It is important to note that colleges and universities determine for themselves how much added value an AP course should carry during their admissions process.