There’s 2 other math class options for seniors, but both require you to have taken AP Calc BC (Differential Equations or Multivariable Calculus). And with AP Research, you have to have taken AP Seminar in 11th grade. The “Modern Physics” class doesn’t have any prerequisites, but since D26 pretty much hates physics with a passion, she really doesn’t want to take that one. The spanish class is going to be a cake-walk since it’s this year’s AP Spanish teacher who will be teaching it…and he’s an easy grader.
We suspect that the Human Health & Disease class is going to be taught by D26’s AP Bio teacher…he’s really awesome. The course description sounds great and it appears to have some epidemiology in the class.
The Middle Eastern History class I’m pretty sure is going to be taught by the teacher she’s got this year for AP Human Geography. He’s also who she had last year for AP European History.
So next year, she’ll only have 5 classes! I think she’ll end up TA’ing for 1 of the history teachers, though.
Thanks! My kid is in a pre-college conservatory program and has been taking musicianship since the 4th grade… so I actually think she might have the opposite problem and find the high school class too boring. She was mostly interested in the class because it’s taught by the chamber winds teacher (someone she likes). But in any case, it’s definitely a good idea for her to try to learn more about what they cover!
So many of you have kids taking such cool classes. When I was in high school, we had block scheduling with four classes half the year four classes second half so you had an opportunity to take eight classes. They did away with study halls back in 1997. And I got to take so many cool electives every year. My daughter just can’t fit them in. She got in ceramics this year and loves it, but can’t really go with more art classes unless she gives up something else. And I think she would take more English electives, but she’s not willing to give up something else.
Again, it’s so interesting to me how different schools are. Seniors at C26’s school have to take half year gov/half year Econ, but they can only do one of those as AP. So the choices are on+level gov/econ, AP Comp Gov/econ, or gov/AP macro. I just wonder if AOs understand that your kid can do both as AP but mine can’t …
I think it’s awesome that your school will offer a class for only one person. I don’t think ours will even contemplate that - interestingly Latin is hugely popular at our school so there are always enough for at least one AP Latin class. But it’s sometimes the arts classes where they don’t have enough - C26 is worried there won’t be enough for the choral performance/chamber singers honors class next year.
D24 took AP Music Theory last year. There was a big listening component to it. It was a pretty challenging class. Harder than one initially might think. On the exam, there’s questions where you listen to a note played and you have to record yourself singing another note that is so many steps above or below it…stuff like that.
Prerequisite: AP Biology. In this course, students will learn about the major causes of disease and death by interacting with primary and secondary sources of information. We will begin with an overview of the major causes of disease and death and epidemiology basics (the who, what, where, how, when, and why of a disease). The course with then shift into learning about both infectious (viral,bacterial, and parasitic) and hereditary diseases, with students doing a large amount of research-based learning and presentations.
We are scheduling here too. No options for study halls and they have 7 classes. So far he has:
AP Calc BC online because it has never been offered seated even though about 60 kids start 2 years ahead and could be in this class senior year.
AP Physics C mechanics. This will be his first physics class. The teacher isn’t great, but he figured AP could be more interesting.
IB English year 2
Capstone Engineering. He’s excited for this one.
Wind Ensemble.
And that leaves 2 spots. He’s asking for permission to take AP CSA without having CS principles already. Really hoping he can. If not, he might take an online version. He might try a financial class, speech, art, or ??. It’s tough because he has to pick 2 hours worth plus alternates in case the schedule has conflicts. We know which hours he probably has open based on what’s been offered the past few years. Except online Calc of course, the other classes listed above are only once a day. So that leaves not a lot of choice, really.
He took AP Music Theory this year and was so excited for it. But it hadn’t been offered in a few years and the teacher didn’t do a great job and then she quit, so now they are doing nothing that class period. He works on other homework. They are supposed to be making a plan, but I’m not very optimistic. I’m thankful he didn’t sign up for the exam in May!
So that’s supposed to be detailed in the school profile, but based on the thousands of applications that AOs deal with, I don’t know how they can possibly spend enough time per application to get the full context.
I’m all fired up to send an email to our social sciences grade chair asking if one-semester AP Gov and AP Econ will ever be an option, lol.
My daughter was told that she could probably jump right into AP CompSci A – even with no coding background – if she maybe watched some of the AP CompSci Principles class on Khan Academy over the summer. I think Principles is just an overview class to get you familiar with coding languages, but you don’t actually learn to code. She wasn’t too excited about taking that, either.
Very jealous of everyone getting their schedules for next year. We’re not sure when the schedules will come out for rising seniors. Last year, our D26 got her schedule options in mid-May! And then they had the audacity to ask them to return the schedules the very next day!
Really hoping for a more organized process going into senior year.
I am 100% sure he would be fine. He programmed for his middle school robotics team for a few years. But, it’s a prerequisite for the class at our school.
My D22 never had space for it in high school, so she finally took Music Theory for Non-Majors in college last semester. This particular class specified that the student needed to be able to read music, at least – there was another class for students going in with no knowledge whatsoever.
It was funny, my D22 was the only vocalist in the class – everyone else was a student who had played an instrument as a child and had gotten away from it, so wanted to brush up. And so she pulled out a lot of knowledge about solfege and little tips her middle school chorus teacher had given her to identify key signatures – “final flat is fa” – etc. I think the other students thought she was nutty, lol.
But yes – it was hard! It was taught by a PhD cello student, I think. D22 had to compose an original piece and perform it for the class. She sang her composition, and although she took piano lessons through high school, it had been a long time since she accompanied herself – so the teacher’s girlfriend came in and accompanied her on piano, lol.
It’s a small private school – about 500 in the whole high school – so they kind of have to commit to offering an academic class if even one student is interested, because they don’t allow online or any other option.
But I hear you on Chamber Singers. There is only one high school chorus class because there aren’t enough kids to support more than that. When my D22 was in school, her class had a lot of talented singers – it was a whole tight group of them who planned to pursue music in college. (Just a hobby for her, although she took it seriously.) So Chamber Singers was strong, about 20 kids, and they did some advanced stuff.
But after that class graduated, it dwindled…and I think it’s at 7 or 8 now, with no boys. Still fun to listen to, but definitely a different experience.
I just finished the last CSS and FAFSA forms of D22’s college career, At this moment it doesn’t look like S26 will go to a CSS school, so it might have been my last hurrah
All this talk about scheduling reminds me to call the school and ask if they really still don’t offer Spanish 3 and 4 (they didn’t this year)or if S26 is just telling me that. So far his preliminary schedule is very very light weight. The counselor was appalled that he is not planning to take another math class, because “everybody needs calculus” (he has the required 4 math credits) but he stood his ground. Then she kept asking him what he wanted to do after HS and when he said he didn’t know yet, she scolded him that by Junior year he really should know. What BS, 16/17 year olds really don’t need to know. All guidance counselors in our district have been terrible. Such a shame, I am friends with a number of wonderful counselors privately but our school district seems to hire the worst. Rant over
They’ve got about 16 in chamber singers this year, most girls - I think 2 boys. That is in by audition so it’s a strong class, and it’s the choir that sings at town functions etc as well. There is another chorus class that anyone can be in. There is also a musical theater class which falls under the drama department, but there is quite a lot of overlap between students in that and in one of the chorus classes. C26 won’t study music at college (though if there is somehow a class they can do for a GE they’d be interested), but would be keen to find some less formal group to sing with if that exists where they end up.
I think most colleges surely have a chorus that is open to non-majors, even if by audition. My D22 sings with the Rice Chorale – it’s actually a class that meets twice a week for 1.5 hours. I’d say it’s about two thirds music majors (and the Shepherd School of Music is hardcore, so these are some opera singer types, LOL), and the director is a really eccentric guy who mostly has them sing requiems.
But D22 is vibing – her voice is suited to that and not at all musical theatre. That doesn’t stop her from doing all the student-run theatre possible, though. We’re headed out this weekend, actually, to catch a show that she’s producing and directing. (I’m still getting used to the fact that she became a full-on adult without our noticing, lol.)
We don’t know any juniors who know that yet! All of D’s friends are feeling very undecided right now… and S23 and his friends were the same way at this point in junior year.
At this moment it doesn’t look like S26 will go to a CSS school, so it might have been my last hurrah 
