Candidates for AP classes:

	should have completed four or more honors classes
	should have earned a B or better in th relevant honors class (i.e., a student who plans to take AP U.S. History should have earned a B or better in previous history courses)
	should have developed organizational and time management skills
	should be self-disciplined, highly motivated, and persistent
	should be able to dedicate seven to ten hours of homework each week to each AP class
	should have good writing skills
	should obtain scores in the 75th percentile or above on nationally standardized tests

AP Language and Composition
In this advanced placement course, students will become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Students will also become aware of the interactions between a writer's purposes, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way that generic conventions and language resources contribute to effective writing. The overarching objectives of the course are for the student to develop the facility to write in a variety of forms (i.e., narrative, exploratory, expository, argumentative, etc.), read and comprehend complex text material, and write prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers. The writing process is emphasized throughout the course, with emphasis on effective writing and communication. Modern Language Association (MLA) standards for research documentation and publication are also reviewed in the course. The course will prepare students to take the AP exam.

AP Literature and Composition
Advanced Placement Literature and Composition will engage students in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Students will consider structure, style, themes, figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone among other elements of literature. The course will include intensive study of representative works from various literary genres and periods. Writing in AP Literature and Composition reinforces reading. It will include attention to developing and organizing ideas in clear, coherent, and persuasive language; a study of the elements of style and the writing process; emphasis on precision and correctness; and mastery of the Modern Language Association (MLA) standards for research documentation and publication. The course will prepare the students to take the AP exam.

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AP United States History
Advanced Placement U.S. History is the equivalent of a college level introductory course. The course is designed to give the student a strong grounding in the subject matter of U.S. history and major interpretive questions that derive from selecte themes. The course consists of extensive chronological study of the history of the U.S. from 1492 to the present, with selected themes from economic, social, intellectual, cultural, diplomatic, and political-constitutional history. Students will learn to assess historical materials, develop the skills necessary to arrive at concusions, and present reasons and evidence clearly. Near the end of the school year, students will sit for the Advanced Placement Examination in U.S. History. This course is for serious students. The reading is college level and extensive. The course includes extensive research and anlaysis, and requires the use of the Modern Language Association (MLA) standards for source documentation and publication. Students will be prepared to take the AP exam.

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AP Calculus (AB)
The Advanced Placement Calculus course includes the study of the concepts of limits, derivatives, and integrals, and their interrelationships. Application of concepts will be emphasized.

Successful completion of pre-calculus is a pre-requisite for success in this class.

Students are required to sit for the AP Examination at the end of all AP courses.