ADVANCED PLACEMENT PROGRAM

The Advanced Placement Program provides high school students with the opportunity to complete collegelevel studies while they are still in secondary schools. The challenging and thought-provoking courses
often take more time, require more work, and go into greater depth than regular level courses. Students
who enroll in Advanced Placement classes are required to take the AP exams at the end of the academic
year in order to receive the extra quality point.
In Huntsville, the Advanced Placement Program is an integral part of the school system's
instructional program and is valued for its contribution to academic excellence. Should a student
wish to take an AP course not taught at the home high school, the request to enroll in the course at
another high school may be made with the home school counselor. Transportation to the other high
school may be provided. Huntsville City Schools (HCS) will pay $45 toward each Math, Science,
English or Social Studies AP exam taken by HCS students enrolled in the corresponding course.
AP Courses Offered in the Huntsville City Schools System
Art History
Studio Art
Biology
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
Chemistry
Comparative Government
and Politics

Computer Science A
Economics, Macro
Economics, Micro
English Language and
Composition
English Literature and
Composition
Environmental Science
European History

French Language
French Literature
German Language
Human Geography
Latin Literature
Latin: Vergil
Music Theory
Physics 1
Physics 2

Physics C: Electricity and

Magnetism
Physics C: Mechanics
Psychology
Spanish Language
Statistics
U.S. Government and Politics
U.S. History
World History

Grade Scale If a student takes the corresponding AP test, the AP course grade will be weighted
one point more than other courses for calculating the grade point average used to determine class
rank. Honors courses are weighted .5 extra.
Grading Scale A= 90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79; D=60-69; F=59 and below
AP/IB Scale A=5, B=4, C=3, D=2, F=0
Honors Scale A=4.5; B=3.5; C=2.5; D=1.5; F=0
Regular Scale A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0
For calculation of the numeric average, AP and IB courses, including Cyber Security, are
weighted 10 points on a 100-point scale and Honors courses, including Computer Science
Principles, are weighted 5 points on a 100-point scale.

AP CAPSTONE PROGRAM
Huntsville City Schools has been invited to participate in a new program offered by the College
Board through the pilot AP Capstone program at Grissom and Huntsville High Schools. The AP
Capstone program was developed by the College Board in response to feedback from higher
education. AP Capstone is an innovative new diploma program that gives students an opportunity to
apply critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and research skills in a cross-curricular context.
AP Capstone is built on the foundation of a new two-year high school course sequenceAP
Seminar and AP Research. In AP Seminar, students will complete a team project and presentation
and a research-based essay and presentation, along with taking a formal AP exam in May. Students
who complete both the AP Seminar Class (Year 1) and the AP Research Class (Year 2) and earn
score of 3 or higher on the national exam may earn an AP Capstone Certificate. Students who earn
the Certificate and score 3 or higher on 4 other AP courses will earn the AP Capstone Diploma. This
program is available to students in grades 10-12 with teacher or counselor recommendation.
Students are responsible for paying the AP exam fee of $139. More information about this program
may be found at http://lp.collegeboard.org/ap-capstone.