Honor / AP Programs

High school students have an option of enrolling in Honors or Advanced classes. Honors and Advanced classes will require an extra assignment or project each six weeks. Advanced classes are targeted for students that will take the AP test offered by the College Board in May.

The AP program of the College Board enables students to complete college-level studies at Spring Creek Academy. This "academic bridge" helps smooth the transition from high school to college. The primary goals of the advanced program are to enrich the secondary school experience of students ready to apply themselves to college-level courses and to provide the means by which colleges may grant credit or placement, or both, to students with satisfactory AP test scores.

The examinations are structured to measure three areas: depth of knowledge, completeness of thought, and synthesis of ideas. Approximately 1,200 institutions award credit based on the student's AP exam scores. Exams are graded on a 5-point scale with credit usually given for scores of 3 or higher. College credit is generally awarded upon a student's enrollment, although some institutions award sophomore standing only after a student has completed satisfactory work on campus. The score requirements and number of college credit hours or placement credit varies among universities and colleges.

For Honors classes, there is no additional cost. For the Advanced classes, there is an additional $150.00 due per class. This includes a book (in addition to the book(s) used in class) and covers the cost of the AP test. This money is due by the first day of school and is non-refundable.

Regarding grade point averaging (GPA), Regular classes are based on a 4.0 scale, Honors classes are based on a 4.5 scale, and Advanced classes are based on a 5.0 scale.

Students must enroll in Honors or Advanced classes prior to beginning the class. Students may drop from Honors or Advanced into any regular classes at any time, but may not add Honors or Advanced classes during the year. Students enrolled in an Advanced class, who successfully complete all the projects, but decide not to take the AP test in May, will revert to a 4.5 Honors GPA scale for both semesters of the class.

Projects will be assigned on the first day of each six weeks and will be due on the Friday preceding the last week of the six weeks. Projects may be submitted early, but WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED after the due date. If a student is absent on the due date, arrangements MUST BE MADE for the project or assignment to be submitted to school before 3:00 p.m. If an assignment is not completed or submitted on time, the student will be placed in a Regular class for the rest of the year.

The projects and assignments are designed to help students gain a deeper depth of the material presented in our curriculum. Students should plan on spending a few hours each week working on Honors and Advanced projects. Some assignments will be more challenging than others for individual students. Honors and Advanced classes will require extra commitment. Remember, students are earning more points toward their GPA and working to achieve COLLEGE CREDITS for high school classes.

Projects are to be completed on an individual basis. They are not group projects. Working together is considered as cheating. If this happens, a zero will be assigned and additional disciplinary measures will be taken. Please carefully read the Advanced/Honors Contract.

Additional resources for preparing for the AP exam can be found at the College Board website http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about.html.