AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Calculus and AP Physics make up just a sampling of the advanced-level classes the school offers in math and science. Of the 32 honors and AP classes, 11 are math and science related while those in other subjects are often restricted.
Students interested in math and science remain satisfied with their current stock of options, while those inclined toward the humanities struggle to find a place to shine. Instead of limiting the advanced levels of study to certain disciplines, the school should strive to introduce a wider variety of honors and AP humanities classes.
Though the number of humanities classes seems relatively substantial upon first consideration, one must realize that five AP and five honors courses belong to the World Language department, and few students have room in their schedules to become advanced in more than one language while in high school. Also, while large numbers of juniors and seniors enroll in more than one science class in a given year, no student may enroll in more than one of the two AP English courses offered (AP English Literature and AP English Language), and it must be during his or her senior year.
With such a small number of advanced humanities courses actually available to students each year, those who do not believe that science and math are their best subjects find it difficult to excel.
High-achieving students in math and science may receive a weighted 5.0 in several classes per year, possibly beginning with Algebra II Honors and AP Computer Science in their freshman year.
On the other hand, those with an affinity for the humanities but difficulty in math and science classes often cannot enroll in courses offering a GPA boost until reaching junior-year AP United States History or at least the third or fourth year of high school language study.
With such restrictions, there is an obvious advantage for a scientifically minded student when it comes to the calculation of weighted GPAs because of the larger number PProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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science and math classes that students may be concurrently enrolled in that give students an extra grade point.
World History Honors, Economics Honors, AP US Government, Honors English 9 and 10 and AP European History are all courses offered at Los Gatos High School, but are notably absent from the Saratoga High curriculum. While a limit on the number of AP and honors classes one can take per year may be necessary for students to maintain realistic schedules, all disciplines of study should offer equal numbers and levels of classes than currently available.
All students who show promise in certain academic areas and wish to challenge themselves should be encouraged to, not limited to difficult-to-find opportunities outside of school. In Silicon Valley, exposure to science and technology is frequent, while far fewer students are aware of the opportunities to be found through humanities study.
Students cannot successfully prepare to determine a college major without first exploring advanced-level work in several fields, yet many allow humanities courses to fall by the wayside due to pressure from AP science and math classes.
Though the budget situation does not allow it at the moment, implementation of more AP and honors courses in the humanities would allow students to gain a more well-rounded perspective of the world and a broader view of the possible study options in academia instead of being limited to math and science. For this reason, more focus must be placed on the eventual expansion of the English and history offerings when the budget improves rather than adding to the already large math and science class lists.
The Falcon staff voted 18-2 in favor of introducing a wider variety of AP and Honors classes.
