BOURNE — Superintendent Kerri Anne Quinlan-Zhou and Bourne High School Principal Amy Cetner are pleased to report that the Bourne Public Schools has earned a Pre-AP designation for the current school year.
The Pre-AP program, which is offered to schools nationwide by the College Board, delivers grade-level appropriate instruction through focused course frameworks, instructional resources, classroom assessments for learning, and collaborative educator workshops.
This is the first year Pre-AP has been offered at BHS, and is available to freshmen through five courses across a range of subject areas. Pre-AP courses offered at Bourne High School for the 2021-2022 school year include English 1, Biology, World History, Geography and Music.
Principal Cetner learned about the Pre-AP program last spring, and spoke to Grade 6-12 Curriculum Director Kelly Cook about attending virtual information sessions to learn more. She brought the program to the attention of Superintendent Quinlan-Zhou, and the administration was supportive in bringing it to Bourne Public Schools.
The program was also in line with messaging being received from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), which focused on acceleration, rather than remediation, as a way for students to stay on track following missed in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Especially coming out of COVID, we knew this program was something we couldn’t pass up,” Principal Cetner said. “It was very much in line with what we value and strive for here in Bourne, and the skills we want our students to be equipped with when they graduate. As a district we focus on promoting equity and developing educational opportunities to meet the needs of all students, as well as delivering engaging education with high expectations and standards for excellence, and Pre-AP was a perfect fit.”
Pre-AP courses are designed to be aligned to College and Career Readiness and AP standards, and support student success in PSAT-related assessments, SAT, AP, and other college readiness indicators. The program seeks to bring engaging, meaningful courses to students across varying levels of abilities.
Bourne Public Schools has a strong history of AP instruction, but the Pre-AP program is not meant solely for students looking to take AP courses as they progress through high school. One of the most appealing aspects of the program for Bourne administrators was that courses are meant for students of all learning levels.
“We want all of our students to master grade level standards, and this program is a terrific tool that allows us to help them achieve that,” Director Cook said. “It’s all about achieving equity and access across all grades. In order for our students to be where they need to be we must have the resources at our disposal to help get them there, and Pre-AP gives us that. It truly benefits students and teachers alike, which in turn benefits the greater school and Bourne community.”
Rather than presenting a rigid curriculum set by the College Board that all teachers must follow, Pre-AP courses provide teachers with engaging, targeted course materials that they can use to complement their own instruction.
Teachers of the Pre-AP classes have participated in considerable professional development in preparation for the program, and have access to a dynamic network of Pre-AP teachers from across the country where they can share best practices and have access to model lessons, instructional resources and more.
Principal Cetner and Director Cook presented the program to the Bourne School Committee at the committee’s Wednesday, Oct. 13 meeting, where it was well received. BHS guidance counselors Kim Iannucci and Janake Christensen, who have each been instrumental in implementing the program in Bourne, also provided input on the presentation.
While the district is still awaiting performance assessment data on the program, many believe that the courses offered to Bourne High School freshmen this year have been successful.
“We fully anticipate that the program will be successful and more courses will be added moving forward,” Superintendent Quinlan-Zhou said. “We are eager to see how the courses help to prepare freshmen as they progress through high school whether they choose to pursue AP course work or not. This is a program that will benefit all students for success towards college and career, and so far it has been an excellent resource for our staff as well.”
The College Board launched the Pre-AP program in the 2018-19 school year, and courses are being added each year. To learn more about the program, click here. To see the district’s presentation on the program to the School Committee, click here.
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