Royse City High School AP/Pre AP Policy Agreement The Advanced Placement (AP) program is a cooperative educational endeavor between secondary schools and neighboring colleges and universities. The content and curricular goals of each AP discipline are outlined in an AP Course Description supplied by the College Board at www.collegeboard.org. Through our Pre AP courses students are given the opportunity to develop skills that will enable them to be successful in AP courses. Once enrolled in an AP course, students are an immersion in college-level content at an accelerated pace. At the completion of the AP course, students are then given an opportunity to show what they have learned by taking an AP Exam. Colleges and universities often grant credit, placement, or both, to students depending on their AP exam scores. Although AP and Pre AP courses prepare students for their future college career, not all high school students have yet to develop the skills that they need for the rigor of the AP/Pre AP program. A typical Pre-AP/AP students must be task-oriented and proficient readers with the ability to prioritize their time. Parental support is also important for all Pre AP/AP students as they master these skills. For UIL participants, it is important to understand that although the Texas Education Agency guidelines specify that a grade below a 70% in an AP (or Pre AP Pre-Calculus) course does not affect a student’s eligibility for UIL programs, any grade below 70% is not passing in regards to satisfactory progress in a course, or for determination of course credits. (State Policy, FM (legal)-P). It is equally important to understand the grade requirements set by RCISD board as it relates to eligibility participation in any extracurricular program. This information can be found under the RCISD athletic Policy page 37. General Course Requirements 1. Prior to enrolling in a Pre AP or AP course, a student must demonstrate his or her readiness to participate in the Pre AP/AP program by completing the current year. See Requirements Below A. 80 or Higher in a regular level course where requesting a Pre AP course. B. 80 or higher in a Pre AP course where requesting an AP course. C. 90 or Higher in a regular level course where requesting an AP course. 2. All Pre AP and AP courses require up to 6 hours per week of individual study time outside of class on a regular bases to ensure student success. 3. Once enrolled in an AP course, students are required to take the AP exam. Therefore each AP course will require a $45.00 fee which must be paid by June 1, 2017 (For students participating in the free or reduced lunch program the fee will be reduced to $20.00 per course.). This fee will be used to register for the AP test. This fee is nonrefundable. (Parents wishing to set up a payment plan may contact Caroline Allison, High School bookkeeper, on or before June 1, 2017 to set up plan. All balances must be paid in full by the start of the 2017-2018 school year.) 4. Students enrolled in Pre AP and AP courses may be required to purchase supplemental materials for their class. This requirement will be made known in the course description. 5. A student enrolling in a Pre AP or AP course is expected to remain in the class for its duration. There is a strict exiting policy that the student and parent are expected to be familiar with prior to enrolling in an advance course. 6. A student taking a two-semester or full year course, whose grade for the first semester falls below a 70%, will be required to participate in a student-parent-teacher conference to determine if it is advisable for the student to continue in the class for the second semester. Students making a 70% or higher are expected to remain in the course until the end of the year. 7. Students and parents should be aware that many AP courses do not have regular level course offerings and therefore exiting the class could result in a change to the student’s graduation plan. For this reason, exiting from these courses will

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not be an option. Examples of these courses are AP Calculus, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics. Students and parents should check with the counselor if they are unsure whether a course falls into this category. Pre AP/AP Exiting Process 1. Once school has started, students who are unsuccessful* at the end of the 1st six-weeks grading period in a Pre AP or AP class will be able to request a change to the regular equivalent course after grades have been posted. The grade earned in the dropped class will transfer to the new course. For example, if a student earns a 60 in Pre AP chemistry the 1st six-weeks, the 60 will transfer directly to the new regular chemistry class. *Unsuccessful is defined as earning a grade below 70%. 2. To request a schedule change, the student will obtain a Pre AP/AP Schedule Change Request Form. The Change Request Form will be available in the student’s house office as well as on-line. For a request to be considered, the form must be completely filled out including student, parent, and teacher signatures. The student must have completed all the requirements listed below prior to the end of the grading period. The teacher must have documentation of all attended tutorials and parent-teacher meetings. The teacher must be complete their part of the form. Failure to meet any of the following criteria will result in an automatic denial to the change request. a. The teacher, parent, and student must have attended a face-to-face conference to address the student’s needs and abilities. b. The student must attend no less than 3 tutorials with the teacher, and demonstrate a consistent effort on their part to receive help in the subject. (Three tutorials in one week is not a demonstration of consistent effort.) c. The student must have completed and turned in ALL assignments for the course. d. The teacher must document that the student has shown consistent effort throughout the entire 6-weeks. e. The teacher must document that the student has asked for help when it was needed and has made an effort to be successful. 3. In all cases, for a Pre AP or AP course, if approved, schedule changes will be subject to course availability. No refunds will be given even if the schedule change has been approved by an administrator. The $45.00 (or $20.00 for students participating in the free or reduced lunch program) fee paid at the beginning of the semester for the AP exam will be used to cover the “re-shelving fee” changed by Collegeboard. 4. The window for Pre AP/AP schedule change request is 3 days. (Days 1-3 of the 2nd six-weeks of the semester.) These deadlines are proposed to insure that every student meets the attendance policy set by the Texas Education Code Section 25.092. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS Section 25.092 State law requires that a student may not be given credit for a class unless the student is in attendance a minimum of 90% of the days the class is scheduled to meet. If a student is in attendance less than 90% of the days the class meets, the student will lose credit unless each and every class is made up in an acceptable manner such as, but not limited to: Saturday School, after school hours. If the student drops below 90% but remains at least at 75% of the days the class is offered, the student may earn credit for the class by completing a plan approved by the principal. This plan must provide for the student to meet the instructional requirements of the class as determined by the principal. Unusual extenuating circumstances would be a basis for appeal to the attendance review committee.