Poly held a Chapel in early March discussing the removal of AP classes for future school years. This was the first occurrence where students had formally learned about this decision and it left many students concerned and wanting clarity on the reasoning behind the recent decision. 

The main concern with the absence of these AP classes is college admissions. Throughout the application process, a significant way to stand out is through the number of AP classes taken, as they allow colleges to differentiate students’ academic abilities. This new decision has brought up a multitude of opinions throughout the student body, as many students feel lost without APs, not knowing how they will stand out to prospective schools. 

“For one, the AP system allows us to have credits for college. When we don’t have those credits, people will have to redo those classes and that will be annoying. However, teaching to the AP system doesn’t allow much creativity,” said Georgia Horan ’23.

However, on the contrary, this removal is also a relief for many students, as there is now less academic pressure.

“I feel like I can now really focus on specific topics of interest to me versus feeling overwhelmed by APs and the preparation for college. The rigor that remains in the more course-specific classes is good because I still feel challenged but on a more reasonable level,” said sophomore Kaia Scott. 

Francesca Corsalini, a current senior, partook in five AP classes over the course of her high school career. “AP classes next year take away an opportunity for distinction among students. Enrolling in APs demonstrates you are pushing yourself above the average expectations. I’m not sure how students will differentiate themselves from their peers next year,” she said. 

Douglas Wong, one of the upper school deans, directly observes the college application process annually. Wong explained how this change might not affect the college process as much as some think. “I don’t think there will be a change in the way colleges view Poly students with APs vs. Advanced courses. The majority of colleges don’t accept AP grades as college credit — students cannot really ‘graduate early’ — so AP vs. Advanced courses serves to indicate students’ deep academic interests and show them taking challenging classes. In both cases, this is conveyed regardless of whether it is called ‘AP’ or ‘Advanced,’” said Wong.

Michal Hershkovitz, assistant head of school, also gave her insight into how students can remain diverse inside and outside of the classroom with the upcoming lack of APs.

“Ideally, students differentiate themselves daily by pursuing their individual interests in their own inimitable ways; in doing so, they reflect and enhance our community’s diversity, making us all better,” wrote Hershkovitz in an email to the Polygon.

The most common question asked among the student body when concerning the removal of the AP classes is the intention behind this decision. In response to this question, Wong said, “I think we were vastly underutilizing the expertise of our teachers. Many of our teachers have advanced degrees in some interesting subjects, but with an AP curriculum, we had to teach specific AP topics.”

Hershkovitz added, “The move away from the AP program, like all curricular changes we make, is intended and deliberately designed to positively affect students. We expect our new advanced courses to be far more robust, intellectually rigorous, and interesting college-preparatory courses. The short answer to this question is that we are confident that the removal of AP courses will make our students’ curricular experiences at Poly richer and more meaningful.”

Nationally, statistics show that more than 1.24 million students who graduated from American high schools in 2018 took a total of 4.22 million AP Exams, according to the AP Program Results and Data on the College Board. 

Poly hopes that shifting away from AP classes will help students relieve stress and expand their knowledge in subcategories of subjects they are already passionate about. Allowing students to develop within narrower fields is part of Poly’s attempt to academically prepare students for the college level.