Lemont High School Boasts Record Number of AP Scholar Recipients

A record 47 current or former Lemont High School students have been cited with AP Scholar Award honors by the College Board, thanks to their performance on the college-level Advanced Placement (AP) Program Exams in Spring 2014. Prior to this year, the school’s largest contingent of AP Scholar Award honorees was 34 in 2012.

The College Board’s AP Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still enrolled in high school, allowing them to receive college credit, advanced placement at the college level, or both based on their performance on the AP exams. The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on the AP exams throughout their high school careers.

Lemont High School students have succeeded at an increasing rate in AP courses over the last five years. In 2009, 49.6 percent of students who were enrolled in an AP class achieved a score of 3 or better in at least one class, and that rate jumped to 68.8 percent by 2013. However, the school established a new benchmark in 2014, with 70.7 percent of AP students posting at least one score of 3 or better.

Of the total number of AP exams administered to Lemont High School students in 2013, 66 percent resulted in scores of 3 or better. The school’s highest success rate, which is defined as the percentage of students scoring 3 or better, was in AP U.S. History (93.9 percent), AP Statistics (80.0 percent), AP Calculus BC (79.4 percent), AP American Government (76.9 percent) and AP Language & Composition (75.5 percent).

Seven Class of 2014 graduates qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of the exams they took. Those graduates include Alexandra Albrecht, Ann Baillie, Jarrod Hanson, Lucas Heatherington, Zachary Krepps, Anna Zechel and Joe Ziebell.

Seven individuals - six graduates and one current senior - qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of the exams they took. Those honorees included graduates Jonathan Dzielski, Matt Gagen, Katherine Klein, Morgan Micetich, Rachel Miller and Robert Rigler, as well as current senior Alex Micco.

A total of 33 students, including 16 current seniors, qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with scores of 3 or higher. Included among those honorees are graduates Anne Marie Alwan, Michelle Awad, Atri Bathani, Viktorija Bieksaite, Jimmy Chakkalekel, Bryan Cummings, Austin Economos, Luke Graczyk, Matt Hackiewicz, Amy Hughes, Aurimas Jackunas, Sylwia Jazowski, Andrew Kramer, Kevin Lindgren, Clare McClafferty, Andrew Miller and Margaret Rogers. Current seniors Katie Atherton, Simon Batistich, Savannah Brija, Nicholas DeArcangelis, Bailey Fox, Radomir Fugiel, Korryn Graves, Bansi Padalia, Audrey Rex, Will Totura, Andrew Trick, Bridget Tsambikou, Kyra Udziela, Nick Urban, Diana Vera and Daniel Wang also were cited.

Five of the honorees from the Class of 2014 were recognized by the College Board for the second time in as many years. Hanson and Zechel each had received AP Scholar with Honor Award distinction in 2013, while Bathani, Krepps and Rigler were tabbed with AP Scholar Award accolades a year ago.

The College Board is a not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. It offers more than 30 AP Exams, consisting of multiple-choice and free-response questions, in a wide variety of subject areas.

Lemont High School currently offers 12 AP courses – AP Biology, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP English Language & Composition, AP English Literature & Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics I, AP Physics II, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AP U.S. Government, and AP U.S. History. That number will increase by two during the 2015-16 school year, when the school adds AP Economics (Macro and Micro) and AP Music Theory to its list of curricular options.