Schools

Valley View Makes College Board AP Honor Roll

Fewer than two dozen school district were recognized in Illinois for advancing AP course opportunities to a "broader pool of students."

The Valley View School District submitted this story:

Valley View School District 365U was named to the College Board Advanced Placement Honor Roll last week, one of fewer than two dozen school districts in Illinois to be recognized.

The honor roll recognizes school districts for “opening AP classroom doors to a significantly broader pool of students.” 

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VVSD was one of only two such honored school districts in Illinois with an enrollment consisting of at least 30 percent African American, Hispanic and American Indian students.     

“We applaud the extraordinary efforts of your devoted teachers and administrators,” said David Coleman, president of the College Board.

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“You have not only expanded student access to AP course work, but have also enabled more students to achieve on a college level, which is helping to create a strong college-going culture.”

“Your dedication to providing rigorous coursework to a growing population of students is commendable,” added Jennifer McDonnell, Senior Director, K-12 Services for The College Board’s Midwestern Regional Office.

“Improvement in Advanced Placement results takes a sustained effort.”

Qualification for the District Honor Roll is based on examination of AP data from May 2010, 2011 and 2012 data for all students who took AP examinations each of those years.

Among the requirements:

  • An increase in participation in/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts and at least 11 percent in small districts
  • A steady or increasing percentage of exams taken by African American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native students; and
  • Improvement of performance levels when comparing the percentage of students in 2012 scoring a 3 or higher (the number necessary for college credit) to those in 2010.

Thanks to an increase not only in the number of Advanced Placement courses offered but also in the efforts of both teachers and administrators, both Bolingbrook High School and Romeoville High School have shown significant gains in the numbers of students taking the exams as well as in the numbers of students scoring 3 or higher (out of 5) on the exams.

Five years ago, 132 BHS students took 227 exams with 95 scoring 3 or better. Last year 198 students took 336 exams with 140 of them scoring 3 or higher.

At RHS, which has a smaller student population, 43 students took 61 exams with 26 scoring 3 or better in 2008. Last year those numbers grew to 103 students taking 155 exams with 80 of them scoring 3 or better.

VVSD Advanced Placement teachers include Dr. Mike Moro, Steve Stefanski, Chuck Niebling, Dan Rush, Adam Hill, Rick Dellamorte, Rachel Dieter, Tina Paulus, Adam Rio and Christi Veale at Romeoville High School as well as Brian Castiglia, Amy Kearnes, Anthony Clark, Amber Jirsa, Danielle Speciale, Leticia Wallace, Heather Colombatto, Irene Jang, Barbara Sterner, Jason Nikowitz, Nanette Davies, Stacey O’Connell, Todd Rio, John Flynn, Kwynn Olson, Larry Fisher, Steven Hughes, and Matthew Jones at Bolingbrook High School.

“I congratulate your district – students, educators, families, community – on all the hard work and commitment put into opening access and having high expectations for performance in AP courses and exams,” McDonnell said.


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