“Students at WCHS are all naturally smart and do not have to work for anything,” as many would say when asked about WCHS students. While only a stereotype, WCHS’s reputation around MCPS has always been academically positive in the last couple of years. This stereotype was recently reinforced when WCHS was named to the Platinum level on the AP School Honor Roll, the highest level possible, speaking to teachers’ skill and determination of students at WCHS.
Out of the 25 MCPS high schools, 18 of them were named to the 2023 AP School Honor Roll. Only four were named to Platinum: Poolesville High School, Walt Whitman High School, Thomas Wootton High School and WCHS.
“I am not surprised that WCHS was able to achieve this award; so much of the student body takes and passes their AP exams,” WCHS junior Kai Zou said. “It is definitely cool to see the work we put in studying pay off.”
WCHS’ impressive scores reflect the experience and strength of our AP teachers. All year long, AP teachers work hard to create lessons, teach their classes the content, and even spend extra time before and after class to ensure students understand the course. All of this leads up to the May exam dates, where WCHS students can walk into the test well-prepared.
“ I think it is beneficial that as teachers, we have experience actually scoring the exams for College Board,” WCHS AP Lang teacher Kelly Knarr said. “So that helps us to see what they are looking for, and we can take that knowledge and experience back to our students.”
For a school to be placed on the AP Honor Roll, they need 40 percent or more of the graduating class has to take at least one exam in high school, 25 percent has to score at least a three on one or more AP exams and two percent has to take five or more AP exams in high school, with at least one of those exams taken in 9th or 10th grade. While this is an arduous task to achieve, WCHS hit these marks and reached the highest level.
“So far, I have taken four AP exams, and I have felt prepared to take them every single time because of my teachers’ instructions,” Zou said. “Along with studying outside of school for the exam, we always go over test material in class so that we can all prepare.”
While the curriculum is set for AP courses, the different methods and strategies that students get taught are up to the teacher. Teachers who want their students to succeed and will go to any lengths to get their instruction across are a big part of why WCHS students have done so well on their exams and why WCHS has achieved such a prestigious award.
“Just as students have high expectations for themselves for their own quality of work, I know that we all have high expectations for ourselves,” Knarr said. “We want to come into class well prepared to teach. We take our job seriously and want to make sure we are doing right by the students.”
