More than just an AP; the AP Capstone program could come to Carrillo
The diploma for success; AP Capstone ( RubyMarie Costa/ The Puma Prensa)
Written By: Rubymarie Costa-Thompson, staff writter
Whether you want a sneak peek into the college experience, a boost in your high school transcripts, or are looking for a class that takes a deep dive into your favorite subjects, the AP program at Maria Carrillo High School can give you the chance to attain all of this and much more. Carrillo’s current roster of AP classes covers everything from English to Physics, but next year there could be two new additions with a completely different focus.
AP Research and AP Seminar are two classes that, while capable of being taken independently of each other, are mainly taught to allow students to get an AP Capstone diploma, which requires both courses. Along with Research and Seminar, you must pass four additional AP classes to get this diploma at graduation. A program like this could be massively beneficial to students at Carrillo–especially due to the school's long list of offered APs–so that begs the question: why hasn’t this program already been implemented?
It's not because of a lack of interest. “These are classes that had been talked about pretty seriously pre-Covid,” shares Scott Wallach, the social sciences teacher proposing schools implement these classes into the 2025-2026 school year. Back in 2019, an attempt was made to bring these classes to Carrilo, but Wallach wasn’t the only one planning to take on this project. Wallach explains that there was “an English teacher here at that time named Mr. Vanek,” and while “he was going to take the lead on Seminar,” Wallach “was going to take the lead on Research.” These plans were quickly stopped, however, when the Covid-19 pandemic began and schools switched to online learning. Around the same time, Vanek moved away, and it was virtually impossible to go through with the classes because of the lack of support for them. This year, however, there is a real chance of getting Seminar and Research approved.
The only pushback Wallach has faced is due to the recent issue of school closures. “Mainly people are just telling me that because everyone is preoccupied with school closure stuff, that's where the main focus is,” shares Wallach, though he assures that the district usually isn’t too selective with classes. “In my time in the district, I have never seen the board discuss approving a class, they have always just approved it.” Because this is a pre-existing AP class, and no new curriculum has to be made, Wallach is sure that the “course proposal [meets] the requirements of the college board,” and students should be able to take it next year. The only other possible setback is a lack of enrollment. Because AP Seminar was left on the class sign ups, Wallach will have access to the data on how many kids signed up, “hoping it's somewhere above 30” so they have at least one full section.
The process of getting a course approved is multi-step, starting with the relevant department–English, Social Sciences, Math, etc.–at the site of the teacher proposing it. It then goes to the Advisory Council–the department chairs and the principal–and then the steering committee of the department that is proposing it, in this case the Social Sciences steering committee. This is made up of the department chairs and principles of each site because if a class becomes approved at one school, it can be taught at any of them. After being approved by the Steering Committee, the proposed course is sent to the Santa Rosa School Board's agenda to make the final decision. Research and Seminar will be discussed during the steering committee meeting in the last week of February. If approved, the classes will be put on the Board’s agenda for one of the two march board meetings.
At Carrillo, Seminar and Research would be available to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. In these two courses, as Wallach explains, “students will be given the opportunity to do things they don't get a chance to do in any of their other high school classes.” Students will learn specific techniques and structures for collecting and applying research, things that Wallach “didn’t personally [see] until grad school.” The writing done in Seminar and Research is different from other writing based APs such as AP Literature or AP Language. Wallach says the difference is that, while “other classes give you a curriculum and expect students to pass an exam about it,” Seminar and Research allows students to choose their own topics, so they will only spend time researching things that truly interest them. This is what makes Seminar and Research student-driven classes that can effectively prepare highschool students for experiences in college. “AP Research aligns with how you’d do [research] in upper level college courses or grad level courses,” Wallach explains, emphasizing the fact that this class has a “much higher level of organization, research, and writing than most other courses you could take.” Because the biggest difference between high school and college is the level of independence, these courses can prepare you on how to organize and prioritize your work and schedule.
The College Board claims that an AP Capstone Diploma is “a powerful indicator of college readiness on a student's transcript and helps students stand out to colleges in the application process.” Even if you only take AP Research–taking it as a senior, or as a standalone, essentially makes it a one off elective–the skills you learn can be applied to any level of schooling or real life.
Analy High School and Cardinal Newman High School are the only other schools in Sonoma County with Capstone, and also happen to be the two schools MCHS loses the most amount of students too. Making Carrillo the first Santa Rosa City Schools campus with Capstone is fitting due to the high percentage of students that take multiple AP classes, and the possibility of enrollment benefits. Wallach is sure Capstone would “impact a fair amount of students.” Montgomery High School has a similar program–known as the International Baccalaureate (IB) program–though a Capstone diploma still stands out and is generally “more widely acknowledged by higher education,” as Wallach warns.
AP Seminar and AP Research are worth signing up for for numerous reasons, even if you don’t plan on attending college. While a potential purpose of this class is to bulk up your college application, it could also be useful for many jobs straight out of highschool. AP classes hold a heavy weight in high school, and while the pressure might get to you, you might know someone who'd be the perfect fit for Seminar and Research. Student enrollment is critical to the kick-start of these challenging and beneficial courses. Your influence can make our high school the first in our district to bring this fresh new content to Carrillo's AP lineup.