Fairview High to Participate in AP Capstone Program
From WCS.edu…
Beginning next fall, Fairview High School will become one of approximately 1,000 schools worldwide to implement the AP Capstone Program.
AP Capstone is an innovative diploma program that allows students to develop research, collaboration and communication skills by taking two courses in sequence: AP Seminar and AP Research.
Students who earn scores of 3 or higher on AP Seminar and AP Research assessments and on four additional AP exams will earn the AP Capstone Diploma. This signifies their outstanding academic achievement and attainment of college-level academic and research skills. Students who earn scores of 3 or higher on both AP Seminar and AP Research assessments only will earn the AP Seminar and Research Certificate.
Fairview High will be the only Williamson County high school to offer the program.
“This innovative program gets a broader, more diverse student population ready for college and beyond,” said Fairview High Principal Dr. Juli Oyer. “The program gives our teachers more leeway with curriculum choices so their students can access more challenging coursework and sharpen their reading and writing skills.”
The AP Seminar course, typically taken in tenth or eleventh grade, equips students with the ability to look at real-world issues from multiple perspectives. Students will be required to tackle complex questions; understand and evaluate opposing viewpoints; interpret and synthesize information; and construct, communicate and defend evidence-based arguments.
In the AP Research course, students design, plan and conduct a yearlong research-based investigation on a topic of individual interest, documenting their process with a portfolio. Students build on skills developed in the AP Seminar course by learning how to understand research methodology; employ ethical research practices; and collect, analyze and synthesize information to build, present and defend an argument.
“I commend Dr. Oyer and her team for pursuing this challenging coursework for the Fairview students,” said Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools Dr. Charles Farmer. “I believe this coursework will continue to provide opportunities for our students to be more prepared for and more successful in their readiness for college and career options.”
Fairview High School will start AP Seminar in the fall of 2017.
