Twice is Nice: Valley View School District Lands Spot on AP Honor Roll

Valley View School District 365U is among 477 school districts in the United States and Canada that have been named to the College Board Advanced Placement Honor Roll which recognizes school districts for “opening Advanced Placement classroom doors to a significantly broader pool of students.”

VVSD was one of only five honored Illinois school districts with an enrollment consisting of at least 30 percent African American, Hispanic and American Indian students. It’s the second year in a row the district has been named to the AP Honor Roll.     

“Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn higher AP scores is an objective of all members of the AP community from teachers to district and school administrators to college professors,” a spokesman for the College Board said.

Qualification for the Honor Roll is based on examination of AP data from May 2011 through 2013 for all students who took AP examinations in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Among the requirements:

• An increase in participation in/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts and at least 11 percent in small districts
• A steady or increasing percentage of exams taken by African American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native students; and
• Improvement of performance levels when comparing the percentage of students in 2013 scoring a 3 or higher (the number necessary for college credit) to those in 20101

Thanks to an increase not only in the number of Advanced Placement courses offered but also in the efforts of both teachers and administrators, both Bolingbrook High School and Romeoville High School have shown significant gains in the numbers of students taking the exams as well as in the numbers of students scoring 3 or higher (out of 5) on the exams.

VVSD Advanced Placement Teachers: Dr. Mike Moro, Steve Stefanski, Chuck Niebling, Dan Rush, Adam Hill, Rick Dellamorte, Ben Hunsaker, Tina Paulus, Adam Rio and Christi Veale at Romeoville High School as well as Brian Castiglia, Amy Kearnes, Amber Jirsa, Danielle Speciale, Heather Colombatto, Janel Klinetobe, Irene Lee, Barbara Sterner, Jason Nikowitz, Nanette Davies, Todd Rio, John Flynn, Kwynn Olson, Larry Fisher, Steven Hughes, and Matthew Jones at Bolingbrook High School.