Pine-Richland School District Honored for Success with AP Courses

 has been named to the annual honor roll in the AP District of the Year Awards.

Only 367 public school districts in the nation and Canada received the honor for the AP — or Advanced Placement — program, which offers rigorous college-level courses to high school students.

The honor is bestowed on districts that "simultaneously achieved increases in access to AP courses for a broader number of students and also maintained or improved the rate at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP® Exam," the listing said.

"Achieving both of these goals is the ideal scenario for a district’s AP program because it indicates that the district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are likely to benefit most from AP course work," states a press release on the website of the College Board, a nonprofit that administers the AP and SAT programs.

"The majority of U.S. colleges and universities grant college credit or advanced placement for a score of 3 or above on AP Exams," the release said.

The tests are scored on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being the lowest and 5 as the highest.

The Second Annual AP Honor Roll includes districts across 45 states in the United States and six provinces in Canada. Pennsylvania had the largest representation of districts, with 34 on the list, followed by New York and Massachusetts, which each have 30, the College Board website states.

Other Pittsburgh-area districts on the honor roll are Avonworth, North Allegheny, Peters Township, Riverview, Shaler, South Park and Upper St. Clair.

"AP provides students with an opportunity for learning that goes beyond just facts and figures," according to a guide to the program, Bulletin for AP Students and Parents 2011-12. "The rich course material, classroom discussions and demanding assignments typical of AP courses will help [students] develop the knowledge and critical thinking skills expected of college students."

If students score well on an end-of-the-year AP exam administered in May, they can earn college credits for the class. Each college or university determines whether to accept AP courses and sets the standard on what score the student needs to earn the credits.

Having the rigorous AP courses on a high school transcript also helps students in the competitive college admissions process.

The College Board offers 30-plus AP courses, with subjects ranging from art history to calculus and chemistry, to world history. 

"Since 2009, PRHS has increased the number of students participating in AP from 339 students to 389 students," according to the district's website. "Of those students, 71 percent earned a 3 or higher on the AP Exam scores."

Grades in AP courses also affect a student's grade point average. At , students are graded on a four-point grading scale unless enrolled in a weighted course, such as an honors or AP class.

Honors classes receive an extra .5 to their grades. AP classes receive an additional 1.0.

For instance, an A in a regular class equals a 4.0. In an honors class, that converts to a 4.5 and in an AP class, it means a 5.0.

The high school's 2011-2012 program of studies lists the following 16 AP courses:

AP English 11 Language and Composition

AP English 12 Literature and Composition

AP French

AP German

AP Spanish

AP American Government and Politics

AP American History

AP Biology

AP Calculus AB

AP Calculus BC

AP Chemistry

AP European History

AP Microeconomics

AP Psychology

AP Statistics

AP Studio Art