The Advanced Placement Program (AP) is a cooperative educational endeavor between secondary schools and colleges and universities.  It gives high school students exposure to college-level material through involvement in an AP course, and then gives them an opportunity to show what they have learned by taking an AP Exam.  Vigo County offers AP preparation in over 15 subject areas.  Colleges and universities are then able to grant credit, placement, or both to these students.

AP Exams are a significant part of the AP Program, but they are not the only part.  AP courses, taught by dedicated and committed high school teachers, lay the groundwork for students to succeed on the exams.  Three-hour-long examinations are administered once a year in May.

There are many benefits for students who take AP courses.  They can study subjects they are interested in and challenge themselves with students who are similarly motivated.  AP often helps steer students who are unsure about their future plans toward college or advanced studies, and most colleges view any AP experience as a plus.  This gives students a head start and increases their future options.  AP prepares students for the future by giving them tools that will serve them well throughout their college careers.

The AP Program plays a creative role as well as a facilitative one.  As an intermediary among participating institutions, the Program does the following:

*Chooses college faculty and AP secondary school teachers who develop college-level course descriptions and examinations, and facilitates this development process.

*Provides conferences, consultants, and curricular materials to help interested schools establish college-level courses.

*Furnishes and grades examinations based on the learning goals described in the AP course descriptions.

*Sends grade reports to the students, their schools, and their designated colleges.

*Prepares publications, online materials, and other resources to supplement and support the Program's activities.

*Conducts research and strives to develop new services and products that enhance quality education.

The Vigo County School Corporation offers a wide range of Advanced Placement courses in the following subject areas:  English, foreign language, mathematics, science, and social studies.  The Vigo County School Corporation has made a commitment to organize and support an Advanced Placement Program throughout the county.  Our AP teachers prepare rigorous and challenging course work for students, and are well versed in the subjects that they teach.  The College Board offers a wide variety of professional development opportunities for AP teachers, and many of our teachers have taken advantage of the workshops and summer institutes.

According to the College Board Advanced Placement Program Guide, teachers who are trained to teach the AP curriculum are preparing students to take the AP exams "for many reasons - the challenge, the sense of accomplishment, the strengthening of their college applications, the money and time saved, and the opportunities that can unfold as a result of their AP experience."

The corporation continues to work toward building a stronger AP Program.  Although we offer a variety of AP courses throughout our curriculum, we continue to look for ways that we many challenge students to enroll in the AP Program.  At the start of the 2001-2002 school year, Terre Haute South Vigo added AP Spanish to their AP Curriculum, and West Vigo High School added AP U.S. History to their AP Curriculum.

At the start of the 2002-2003 school year, West Vigo High School added AP European History to their AP Curriculum. Since that time, West Vigo also added AP Calculus and AP Spanish. AP Studio Art will be a course available for high school students during the 2006-07 school year.