New AP Program Coming To Strongsville High

STRONGSVILLE, OH — Strongsville High School will become one of only 1,500 schools in the world that will offer the AP Capstone diploma program. Students will be able to take AP Seminar and AP Research, two classes designed to bridge the gap between high school and college education.

Strongsville High will begin offering AP Seminar in the fall of 2018. The AP courses were developed as a direct response to feedback from college admissions officers and higher education faculty.

“This is another opportunity for students at Strongsville High School that provides college and career readiness. Advanced Placement courses provide challenging learning opportunities and we are excited to continue adding to these offerings for the benefit of our students,” said SHS Principal Mark Smithberger in a statement.

The AP Seminar course is typically taken by juniors and seniors. The course will give students the chance to look at both academic and real-world issues from a myriad of perspectives. Students will learn to use journal articles, research studies, philosophical texts and more. They will then:

• Tackle complex questions
• Understand and evaluate opposing viewpoints
• Interpret and synthesize information
• Construct, communicate, and defend evidence-based arguments

The AP Seminar courses are designed to be flexible for teachers, allowing instructors to cover local, regional, national or global topics as they appear and are relevant to studies. Students then get assessed through a team project and presentation, an individual project and presentation and an end-of-course written exam.

In the AP Research course, students have agency over their own time, designing, planning and conducting a yearlong research-based investigation into a topic of their choice. They then document their process with a portfolio. They need to display an understanding of methodology, employ ethical research practices, and collect, analyze, and synthesize information to build, present, and defend an argument.

Students who earn scores of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and Research and on four other AP Exams will earn the AP Capstone Diploma. This will signify academic achievement and college-level academic research skills.

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