By Julia Conforti, staff writer
Out of all the high school districts in the U.S., 60 percent of schools offer AP courses, while worldwide there are about 15,000 AP classes offered for high schoolers.
AP world history teacher David Dembowski has about 60 of those students. Though AP world his- tory is just one of the many AP classes offered here at Indian Trail High School and Academy as well as at other high schools in Wisconsin. In fact, there are more than 55 AP courses offered such as chemistry, calculus, history, English, psychology, and various languages.
These classes run differently than normal high school courses. They are run by The College Board and designed to prepare students for college. The amount of work and responsibilities required are equivalent to that required in courses taken in col- lege.
“It’s a lot of work. I don’t really look forward to it,” AP psychology student Mikaila Dusenberry said. Dusenberry estimates that her homework can take from 90 minutes to up to 2 hours. Dembowski said his students face a workload of about five to 10
hours per week, but it depends on the student.
Still, the studying of materials at home has its ad- vantages. AP classes consist of independent studies that all come together in group discussions in the classroom.
“The biggest and the most important difference is because the work is at home, there is room for lively classroom conversations,” said AP English teacher Julie Abt.
Some similarities between the regular high school courses and the college-level courses remain. In Indian Trail’s case, teachers have to follow KUSD policies. That means that teachers must use the same grading scale and late work policies that KUSD has assigned.
The most significant event of any AP class is the AP exam, held in the middle of May. This test is a college exam and is run as such in a chosen exam hall around town. If you manage to pass this test, you gain a college credit. A three, four, or five out of five is passing, though more high label colleges are be- coming more selective and aren’t allowing students to pass with a three and are requiring students to re- take the course at said college. This test won’t affect the high school credit. In fact, you could fail the high school course but pass the test and still gain the col- lege credit.
For most AP students, the ultimate goal is to pass the class, pass the test and get the college credit, which should help them reduce their college costs in the future.