More local students are graduating high school with college credits under their belts as a result of their success in the rigorous Advanced Placement (AP) program.

According to the College Board, which administers the AP exams that are given to students taking AP courses, local students passed 2569 AP tests this year compared to 2256 tests passed last year. Because AP courses require students to complete college-level work, those who pass an AP exam earn college credit in that subject.

There were more than 24 AP tests passed for every 100 high school students in Alachua County, the highest number in the state. The second-ranked district was Seminole County, which had 22.45 tests passed for every 100 students. Alachua County’s rate was also nearly three times higher than the statewide rate of 8.36 tests passed per 100 students. It’s the third year in a row Alachua County has earned the top spot in the state.

Sandy Hollinger, the district’s deputy superintendent for instruction and student services, says those figures demonstrate the district’s commitment to having more students take AP courses.

“Our schools work very hard to identify and recruit students we think can benefit from the AP classes,” she said. “We know that the additional challenge of taking the higher level courses helps students in the long run.”

At Eastside High School, for example, students enrolled in the school’s major program are taking nearly 350 AP classes in addition to the AP classes being taken by students in the International Baccalaureate program. Those courses include such subjects as government and macroeconomics, statistics, biology and English literature. With the encouragement and support of administrators, counselors and teachers, assistant principal Adele Turnage says most students will rise to the challenge of AP classes.

“We’re looking for students that we think may have something within them that can be developed by the AP curriculum,” she said. “When we ask them if they want to be in an AP class, they feel that there’s something special about them, and they work up to that.”

“I like to challenge myself,” said senior Jalysa Williams. “I wanted to prove to myself that I could get good grades and succeed in harder classes.”

Santa Fe High School social studies teacher Paul Turney, who teaches several AP classes, says they give students and teachers the opportunity to study subjects in greater depth.

“We look at why things happen, not just what happens,” he said. “We do more analysis, more interpretation, and we use the facts we’ve learned to draw conclusions about history and government.”

“A lot of the topics that we cover we wouldn’t cover in as great detail in other class,” said Sante Fe sophomore Ileana Sheremet. “I enjoy being able to converse with students and teachers about these topics.”

“It’s like a college class,” said Eastside senior Taylor Roundtree. “It’s much more in-depth, we learn lots of things that I find really interesting.”

Because of the rigor of the courses, students who pass AP courses earn higher GPAs, and the courses look very good on a high school transcript when it comes time to apply for college.  The AP courses also provide the advanced content and help boost skills such as time management and organization that are very useful in college.

“I’ve had former students who’ve dropped by and told me that when they got to college they were so well prepared that they were head and shoulders above a lot of the other students who were there who did not take AP courses,” said Turney.

In addition to earning college credits, students who pass the AP exams also earn money for their schools because the state provides financial rewards to districts based on the number of passed tests. The state has not yet announced the amounts districts will receive this year for AP, but last year Alachua County earned nearly $2.1 million.  After subtracting the cost of the tests and bonuses for AP teachers whose students pass them, the remainder of the money awarded by the state this year will be distributed primarily to the high schools based on the number of tests their students passed. Some of the money will also be distributed to elementary and middle schools in recognition of the work they’ve done to help prepare students for success in the AP program.