BY: RACHEL CALLAHAN
Taking advanced placement classes provides both financial and academic advantages; they count as a college credit and boost GPA, and, unlike colleges, high schools don’t charge a fee to take the class. However, simply taking the course doesn’t guarantee a student these benefits. In order for the class to be accepted as a college credit, the student must pass the AP test administered at the end of the school year. Passing these exams not only benefits the students, but also reflects well on the school and its teachers. In order to help kids do well on the upcoming tests, many AP teachers are offering reviews on super Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Unfortunately, students are on their own when it comes to transportation.
On the special days allotted for testing school ends at 11:30 and the busses depart at 11:50, but AP review sessions don’t begin until 12:00. When students finish with the AP review there won’t be any busses available to take them home. Public transportation is important to students who are unable to drive and whose parents can’t easily pick them up because they live far away or are at work. Students attending the review sessions should be encouraged by the school since a school’s efficiency is largely measured by test scores. Transportation difficulties will likely act as a deterrent, negatively impacting the attendance of these non-mandatory (but helpful) reviews.
The lack of public transportation provided by the school wouldn’t impact as many people if AP courses were limited to only juniors and seniors; however, this is not the case. The school’s guidance counselors encourage all students to attempt at least one AP class before they graduate. One of the most popular AP classes is Human Geography, and while available to all grade levels, the class is especially popular with freshmen. Sophomores have the option of taking AP World History as well as AP Psychology and, if advised to do so by their 9th grade Biology teacher, can take AP Biology. Many freshmen and sophomores are not yet 16, meaning that driving isn’t even an option and not all students who are eligible to get a licence necessarily have one or own a car. If academic activities are taking place during normal school hours, transportation should be provided so that it is not a hassle for students to participate.
Transportation not being readily available will make it difficult for everyone that wants to participate to be able to. It is unfair to allow students to miss out on opportunities because of factors outside of their control, especially when the solution is simply providing school busses until 2:30, like they would on any normal day.
