Additional challenging classes are being offered to enhance your high school transcript. This fall, West is planning to offer seven new AP classes in a variety of subjects.
Students who have advanced in their languages will no longer need to drive to the Career Center to take AP Spanish or French & Culture, although students can still opt to take them at the Career Center if they prefer.
“I wouldn’t have stayed at West because I really like the community at the Career Center. The mix of schools offers a variety of opinions and an ability to meet new people,” senior Victoria McGuirt said.
West will be adding AP Physics 1 to the current science offerings of AP Biology and AP Chemistry. Not only are they adding sciences to the running list of AP courses, but also AP Government and Politics U.S., AP Computer Science Principles, AP Microeconomics and AP Art Drawing. Student opinions vary on whether or not these new classes are enough for them to stay at West full time, or if they want to branch out and go to the Career Center.
“I’d probably still go to the Career Center because of my radio broadcasting class,” junior Matthew Nesser said.
“I would probably still go to the Career Center, really because the new classes don’t interest me. However, if they added classes like AP Music Theory or something else that I was interested in, then I would probably continue taking only West classes. I wouldn’t have to drive everywhere, or take a bus, or wake my parents up earlier,” sophomore Kayla Holguin said.
Some students choose to go to the Career Center for the experience of meeting new people from different schools.
“I still would have gone to the Career Center because I like to meet new people there as all schools have kids going there and I like the experience over all,” senior Jeffrey Song said.
“I would go to the Career Center because it is a fun environment and the teachers there have taught the classes for a longer amount of time,” senior Olivia Mohr said.
“I would probably still pick the Career Center for the sole purpose of the experience. I would also go there because the new classes at West are still in the new years,” sophomore Taylor Carpenter said.
Students also feel a sense of relief in that they don’t have to make the long drive to the Career Center.
“I would stay at West because I don’t want to travel to the Career Center,” junior Zach Lamoureux said.
Currently, all of these courses are offered at the Career Center, but West is excited to offer these classes in order to accommodate students that have travel or schedule conflicts.
As of now, there is only uncertainty about who will be teaching the classes next year. Angela Hubbard, the head of Student Services who is involved in bringing these AP classes to our school, commented on who will be teaching the new courses.
“There have been suggestions and recommendations for who should teach the new classes, but as of now nothing is final, and I don’t want to create a promise and not be able to fulfill it,” Hubbard said.
In Forsyth County, there is a policy that allows home schools to request new classes to offer at their school that are regulated by the school board, so that the home schools don’t compete with the Career Center. Every year high schools across the county request to teach new AP courses at their home school. Since West has such a large percentage of students that attend the Career Center, they decided to ask for AP courses that would draw students back home.
“We want students to have the opportunity to take these more difficult courses and since some students don’t want to go back and forth between the Career Center and West, we want to try to help our students access AP courses at the level at which they can best manage,” Hubbard said.
In years past, there has been a county-wide policy that requires 15 students to sign up to create a new class. Currently, there hasn’t been a number of students required for the upcoming classes to form. Instead, if students sign up but there are not enough to make an entire class at West, and the student doesn’t want to take it at the Career Center, West will offer the class online. Despite this, West’s goal is to maintain 15 students so they can teach on-site with an in-person teacher. This year, guidance has created a customized registration card in the virtual registration room. Guidance counselors have set this up in order for students to have all of the information in one place. The information can also be found on the West Forsyth High School homepage. For more information about the new AP classes and virtual registration click the link below: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VpdsASN7STJCzpHloAMku6voUJlvZCzN_t1ofuiJfGg/edit#slide=id.gaa2c05c65c_0_0