Advanced Placement Classes Expanded at High School

Swampscott High will offer additional Advanced Placement classes this year, bringing their total number to 14 classes.

The number of seats in these classes is about 330 for the 2012-13 school year, a six-year high, said Principal Layne Millington.

That compares to about 145 seats just three years ago in the 2009-10 school year, he said. (Some students take more than one AP class so the school measures the overall size of the program by seats not students.)

This year's new classes, or those that have been restored after a hiatus, include environmental science, biology, music theory and art history.

The principal would like to offer an AP physics class next year if enough students sign up for it.

Average scores for AP classes at the school have risen over the past three years, climbing from 2.74 in 2008-09 to 3.37 on the last round of testing, the principal said.

Advanced Placement classes are sponsored by the College Board and are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college, according to Wikipedia.

The online encyclopedia also says that some colleges grant credit to students who score high enough on exams to qualify for the credit.

The first day of school for all four grades at SHS is Sept. 7.