ADVANCED PLACEMENT
Advanced Placement (AP) courses are options for capable students who want to enrich and challenge themselves in particular subjects by working on university-level material while still in high school. Students must be committed to thinking and working at a high level. Students may take one, or more, AP classes that suit them.
All AP classes require registration in at least 2 courses.
AP classes prepare students to write Advanced Placement exams in May each year. Students scoring a 4 or a 5 may earn AP transfer credits at the post-secondary level. Students pay an AP exam fee of $125 for each AP exam.
Descriptors can also be found by subject in the courses tab.
Advanced Placement Biology (BIO30P & BIO30PL)
Prerequisite: HSC20 or ESC20
This is a full year course designed around the College Board’s Advanced Placement Biology course, while aligning with high school biology course content. Laboratory skills and experimental design will be emphasized throughout the class. The four major learning themes are: how evolution drives the diversity and unity of life, the complex properties that allow for biological systems to interact, the ways living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential for life processes, and finally, that biological systems use energy and molecular building blocks to grow, reproduce, and maintain homeostasis.
Students must enroll in both BIO30P and BIO30PL.
Advanced Placement Calculus (MPC30AP, CAL30P & CAL30I or CAL30IC)
Prerequisite: MPC20
Students in Advanced Placement Calculus take 3 credit courses over 2 semesters: Math Pre-calculus 30 (MPC30AP) and Calculus 30 AP (CAL30P) in semester 1, and Integral Calculus 30L (CAL30I or CAL30IC) in semester 2. You must select all 3 when taking AP Calculus.
Students write an AP Calculus exam from the College Board in May - either the AB or BC exam. While an exam choice of AB or BC may be made later, for those students who know which one they want to write, choose CAL30I for AB or CAL30IC for BC.
Calculus AB topics include: approximation methods, advanced derivatives, integration properties, techniques and applications, basic theorems and calculus, differential equations, and relative growth rates.
Calculus BC includes all AB topics as well as polar and parametric functions, infinite limits, series & convergence.
What you need to know:
Prepares students to take the Advanced Placement Calculus AB or BC exam in May; successful exam results can result in earned college credit.
Is usually taken in Grade 12 - talk to a counselor about academic planning for your math pathway if you would like to take these classes.
$36.75 calculator rental fee.
Advanced Placement English (ELA30P & ELB30P)
Prerequisite: ELA20
AP English Literature and Composition endows students with the ability to read, think, analyze, discuss, and write with heightened insight and stronger control of language. The pursuit of these skills will help ensure student success in other AP and academic courses and facilitates their transition into higher education. Moreover, this class will expose students to the breadth of human experience as it is captured in literature from the 16th to the 21st century. This study ultimately leads students to recognize the bond between all people that is the foundation of the human experience.
This course is an in depth study of literature that will be taught over the course of two semesters. In conjunction with the study of literature, students will also focus on the art of literary criticism and writing to expand their knowledge of literature. The AP Literature and Composition course will allow the student to complete their required ELA30 and ELB30 credits for graduation. In conjunction with the completion of required credit hours the AP Literature and Composition Exam will conclude the Advanced Placement experience for students.
This is a two credit course that will be held in the first and second semester of a student's senior year. Students should be in Grade 12 when taking this course.
This course demands students achieve and demonstrate maturity, intellectual capacity, and strong work habits. Please see Ms. Grier for more information.
Advanced Placement Physics (PHY30P + PHP30P)
Prerequisite: PSC20
AP Physics is designed to challenge motivated students and to prepare them for the rigors of post-secondary sciences. The AP Physics courses focus on the big ideas typically included in the first year of university-level physics courses and provides students with support for future work in the sciences, medicine, engineering, pharmacy, kinesiology, physiotherapy, and veterinary medicine. AP Physics is year-long with students enrolled in both Physics 30 AP and Physics Preparation AP 30L.
Students will explore all the topics that are studied in Physics 30 with the addition of rotational dynamics, DC circuits, thermodynamics, fluids, atomic physics, and magnetism/ electromagnetic induction.
This course requires that some of the instructional time be spent in laboratory work, with an emphasis on inquiry-based investigations that provide students with opportunities to demonstrate the foundational physics principles and apply all seven science practices defined in the curriculum framework.
Advanced Placement Psychology (PSY20P & PSY30P)
Students in either Grade 11 or Grade 12 can take AP Psychology. AP Psychology is year-long with Psychology 20 (PSY20PA) in semester 1 and Psychology 30 AP (PSY30P) in semester 2. This course introduces students to the rigorous systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings. Students will study psychological theories, methods and principles associated with the major sub fields of Psychology. As a full year commitment, this course allows students to complete studies in high school, which they may later use as an equivalent to an introductory university course in Psychology depending on the mark achieved by the student on the AP exam in May.
Note: This course is intended for highly motivated students with a strong work ethic, interested in and committed to the study of Psychology. Please speak with Ms. Wood for further information.
Advanced Placement Chemistry (CHE30P & CHE30PL)
Prerequisite: Physical Science 20
In this course, students will learn about the fundamental concepts of chemistry including structure and states of matter, intermolecular forces, and reactions. Students will do hands-on lab investigations and use chemical calculations to solve problems.
Students will learn the following skills:
Creating graphs, diagrams, and models that represent chemical phenomena.
Explaining how the microscopic structure of a substance determines its chemical properties.
Balancing a chemical equation.
Making a scientific claim and supporting it with evidence.
This is a year-long course and students must register in both CHE30P and CHE30PL.
Advanced Placement Art (VAR30P & VAS30)
Students taking AP Art must select both Visual Art 30 AP and Studio Art 30 as AP Art is a year-long course (VAR30P and VAS30).
This enrichment opportunity is intended for highly motivated and independent senior artists who are passionate about art-making and would like to work towards a university or college-level credit in art. The AP curriculum is based on the requirements of a first-year university studio art course, therefore projects and pace will reflect this. Students will compile a portfolio in one of the following areas: Drawing, 2D Art & Design or 3D Art & Design, and portfolios will be graded through an external evaluation by the College Board in May. Life drawing, in-depth critiques, guest artists, and field trips will be special highlights of this course.
Studio Art 30 (VAS30) is the semester 2 course for students in AP Art (Visual Art 30 AP is held in semester 1). Those who take AP Art are required to take VAS30 to ensure their digital portfolio is completed and submitted in May. Once portfolios are submitted, students will focus on the professional side of becoming a practicing artist, which will include writing an artist statement, arranging formal gallery exhibition of their works, creating a website, researching higher education and career opportunities in the field, developing an understanding of how to value artworks and exploring the opportunities within the local art scene.
Students in AP Art are required to pay the College Board AP Portfolio fee of $125.00 but do not pay an AP exam fee.
Advanced Placement Computer Science (CSC20P & CSC30P)
Prerequisite: Computer Science 20
Computer science is everywhere, from our smartphones and video games to music, medicine, and much more. AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) can help you understand how computing and technology influence the world around you. Learn how to creatively address real-world issues while using the same tools and processes that artists, writers, computer scientists, and engineers use to bring ideas to life. In this course, you will learn the fundamentals of computing, including problem solving, working with data, understanding the Internet, cybersecurity, and programming. The goal of AP CSP is to broaden your understanding of computer science for use in a diversity of majors and careers. This is a year-long course in which students earn a CSC20 credit in first semester and a CSC30 credit in second semester. The AP CSP requirements are a coding project and an end-of-year multiple choice exam. The language used is Python. Depending upon interests, Raspberry Pi and Arduino kits are available to explore computing hardware at a more basic level. The Computer Science Matters in Maryland curriculum for AP CSP will also be used. This course allows students to enroll directly in CMPT 141 at the University of Saskatchewan and bypass CMPT 140. This course may be taken in grade 11 or 12.