News | Monterey Bay Academy

MBA AP Program Growing

Sunday, December 21, 2006

Monterey Bay Academy is making sure its strong tradition of academic excellence will continue with the addition of a growing Advanced Placement (AP) program for its high achieving students.

“For many years students, parents, board members, constituents, faculty and staff have been pushing MBA to add AP courses,” Principal Tim Kubrock said. “AP classes give our students a chance to be challenged, better prepared for college and to compete with other high achieving students across the country.”

AP courses are nationally recognized courses run by the College Board (the same governing body that administers the SAT) that offer high achieving high school students the opportunity to challenge themselves and potentially earn college credit. AP classes are graded on a 5.0 scale and each course requires students to take a nationally recognized exam at the end of the year. The test is graded on a scale of one to five. If a student scores a three or better, he has the opportunity to earn college credit, depending on the college he attends.

“These students can potentially save thousands of dollars in college tuition,” Kubrock said. “The real benefit though is not in the money saved, but the knowledge gained by students participating in these classes.”

MBA’s AP program was started five years ago when Kubrock introduced AP U.S. History to the curriculum. This year MBA’s new history teacher, Tim Zytkoskee, continues that class while veteran teacher Kirsten Weber teaches her AP Literature class for the third year.

“I really enjoy teaching my AP class,” Weber said. “I love discussions and these kids get into it. Obviously we want our kids to pass the test and get college credit, but more than that I want them to be able to think, express themselves well orally and in writing and I want them to embrace challenges and to learn to enjoy learning.”

The teachers aren’t the only ones who appreciate these classes. Students are quick to point out why they’ve chosen to take these more demanding AP classes.

“This class is amazing and very different from my previous English classes,” Taylor Sigh, a senior from California City, CA said. “The best part is we actually discuss these books; we get to share our opinions and viewpoints.”

MBA’s AP program is still growing too, with AP Biology added to the schedule this year. The addition of these AP classes along with other changes like a new school charter with the National Honor Society and MBA’s new Advanced and College Prep diplomas show that MBA is looking toward the future academically.

“We are going to continue to look to add AP courses that will strengthen our program and we’re going to keep offering a diverse curriculum and student work program like we have since 1949,” Vice Principal for Academic Affairs Julie George said. “I really think that we have always offered our students academic excellence. We’re doing our best to make sure that will continue to be the case here at MBA.”

MBA AP Program Growing

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