Sumner County Schools increases number of AP scholars

Scott Langford, Sumner County Schools Director (screenshot)

Sumner County Schools Director Scott Langford told board officials and community members that the district has made significant strides in expanding advanced placement (AP) programming.

At Tuesday’s school board meeting, Langford said this year, the district had 108 AP scholars with distinction and 78 AP scholars with honors. Langford added that Hendersonville High School is currently leading the district in terms of its number of AP scholars.

“In 2016, [the district] had 100 AP scholars. This year alone, Hendersonville High School had 96 AP scholars,” he said. “Last year, we had 241 AP scholars, and this year we had 366. That’s a 51.9 percent increase year over year.”

Langford highlighted the work of AP instructors at White House High School, in particular, which had 64 AP scholars this year. He said the school currently leads the district in awarding “Capstone Diplomas” to students, adding that the school awarded 12 this year.

“The Capstone Diploma is a special program where you do AP research and AP seminar. Basically, kids do an original research project in high school and defend it like you would a dissertation,” he said, adding that the Capstone Diploma program better prepares students for postsecondary success.

In addition, Langford gave special recognition to Gallatin High School and Portland High School for their recent efforts to expand AP offerings. He noted that both schools had 86 percent pass rates this year.

Langford said that AP classes have contributed to higher ACT exam scores throughout the district, adding that about 300 students scored over 30 on their ACT exams this year. Moving forward, he said, the district hopes to find new ways to expand access to AP programming for more students of color in order to better address academic achievement gaps.

“As we’ve increased the number of students taking AP tests and have expanded opportunities for students to take AP classes, our [assessment] scores have increased. It’s showing that the culture that’s been created to value excellence in our schools is taking off,” he said.