Cathedral students qualify for Advanced Placement award

Date: 10/6/2010

SPRINGFIELD -- The College Board's Advanced Placement Program (AP) provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP exams.

About 18 percent of the nearly 1.7 million students worldwide who took AP exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students' performance on AP.

At Cathedral High School, three students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. These students are Dylan Griswold, James Kelliher, and Daniel Papaleo.

Three students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. These students are James Asselin, Simeon Dubois, and Tyler Galarneau.

Seven students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams with grades of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are Nora Bond, Thomas Campbell, David Eufemia, Caroline Heafey, Christina Rodriguez, Therese Schreiner and Magda Zydzik.

Of this year's award recipients at Cathedral High School, four are sophomores or juniors: Asselin, Eufemia, Griswold, and Rodriguez. These students have at least one more year in which to complete college-level work and possibly earn a higher-level AP Scholar Award.

Through more than 30 different college-level courses and exams, AP provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to earn college credit or advanced placement and stand out in the college admissions process. Each exam is developed by a committee of college and university faculty and AP teachers, ensuring that AP exams are aligned with the same high standards expected by college faculty at some of the nation's leading liberal arts and research institutions. More than 3,600 colleges and universities annually receive AP grades. Over 90 percent of four-year colleges in the United States provide credit and/or placement for qualifying exam grades. Research consistently shows that AP students who score a 3 or higher on AP exams, based on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, typically experience greater academic success in college and higher graduation rates than students who do not participate in AP.