Message From the Headmaster


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 According to a USA Today article published in February 2010, the total number of Advanced Placement (AP) tests taken in 2009 reached an all-time high at approximately 2.9 million. Accompanying that increase, however, was a significant number of students who did not earn a “passing” grade of 3 or higher on the exam’s five-point scale. Across the nation, 41.5% of exams earned scores of 1 or 2; the “failure rate” in the Southern Region was even higher, listed at 48.4%. Researchers and educational leaders alike conclude that unprepared students and unprepared teachers are at the heart of the issue.

The Advanced Placement program of courses was initiated in the early 1950’s by colleges and select independent schools as a way to challenge exceptional students with college-level courses while still in high school. While the College Board has kept this goal in mind over the course of almost 60 years, the push for more students to take AP courses and tests has caused many schools to offer courses that are AP in name but not college-level in practice. This push has led to an increasing number of students taking AP courses and either failing the AP exam or not taking the AP exam at all. Worse yet, instances of students enrolling in AP courses just long enough for them to appear on college application materials are becoming more and more common. When schools are not adequately preparing students for the challenges of college-level courses, the results are not positive.

At Athens Academy, AP courses are all enhanced beyond the prescribed curriculum so that our students will be prepared not only for the AP exam, but also for the challenges they will encounter at the collegiate level. As a result of this approach, we have seen tremendous results over our history of offering AP exams. For more than 35 years, the principles guiding Athens Academy’s AP program have been straightforward and effective.

AP courses are not limited to a small group of students at Athens Academy. In the last ten years, more than 50% of graduates (375 out of 748) have taken at least one AP course during their time at Athens Academy.

Athens Academy requires students enrolled in an AP course to take the corresponding AP exam.

Athens Academy focuses on student performance, not simply the number of students enrolled in AP courses or the number of exams taken. Of the 1,585 AP exams taken by Athens Academy students in the last ten years:
  • 1,517 (95.7%) have earned a score of 3 or higher.
  • 1,270 (80.1%) have earned a score of 4 or higher.
  • 719 (45.4%) have earned the top score of 5.

To what do we attribute this success? Athens Academy has a long-standing commitment to working closely with students and their families to devise the most appropriate course of study, one in which students are stretched to achieve at higher and higher levels while being supported throughout the learning process by exceptionally qualified and dedicated teachers.

Within the context of national trends like those identified by the media, Athens Academy is certainly counter-cultural. Our focus on challenging and supporting each student in and out of the classroom at an appropriate level—whether in an AP course or not—is a hallmark of Athens Academy. It is this approach to the academic program that results in achievement for each student at Athens Academy and beyond.

News from the Headmaster


Last updated 01/19/2012 10:57 AM