Some high school students on Long Island strive to get a head start on their college education through Advanced Placement courses and tests.
A recent Patch study revealed that the highest percentage of high school students on Long Island receiving college credits for AP exams comes in the Great Neck School District.
Patch collected 2015 AP test data from the state Department of Education for 95 Long Island school districts and found that 89 percent of Great Neck students who take AP exams score at least a 3.
Four-year colleges accept scores of 3, 4 or 5 as college credit.
Great Neck school district Superintendent Teresa Prendergast said the district strives for students to be as college-ready as possible.
“We are so incredibly proud of our students and their accomplishments,” Prendergast said. “Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to experience a college level course curriculum while still in high school.”
She said Great Neck students have excelled in receiving top AP exam scores.
“Our students have demonstrated their ability to earn mastery level scores on these challenging Advanced Placement assessments, and our dedicated faculty is to be commended for preparing our students for the rigor of college level coursework,” Prendergast said.
Of the school districts on the North Shore, the Port Washington school district was next on the list with 81 percent of students scoring at least a 3, good for sixth on Long Island.
Paul D. Schreiber High School Principal Ira Pernick said the high ranking was a testament to the hard work of the district’s students.
“I am always proud of the academic achievements of our students,” Pernick said. “Students in Port Washington take their academics seriously and we are happy to support their efforts.”
“We are pleased to provide our students with an extensive array of Advanced Placement offerings and are always seeking to expand the program with relevant courses to better prepare them for higher educational opportunities,” he added.
The Roslyn School District came in at number 11 on Patch’s list, with 77 percent of students scoring at least a 3 on AP exams.
Efforts to reach Roslyn school district officials were unavailing.
The Sewanhaka school district appeared on the list at number 29, with 72 percent of students scoring a 3 or higher on AP exams.
Sewanhaka School District Superintendent Ralph Ferrie said the district would look to improve upon its ranking.
“We are pleased with our ranking on this list, but continually look to raise the bar for our students,” Ferrie said.
He said enrollment in AP courses is one of the “strongest predictors” of a student’s college-readiness level.
“We were proud to make the AP Honor Roll for two years as a result of our ongoing efforts,” Ferrie said. “We will continue that work, believing the experience of taking at least one AP course during high school will prepare our students to leave our schools better prepared for college than they otherwise would have been.”
The Herricks School District was listed at number 32 on the list, with 71 percent of students scoring at least a 3 on AP exams.
Efforts to reach Herricks school officials were unavailing.
In the East Williston School District, 70 percent of students scored at least a 3 on AP tests, good to land at number 37 on the list.
Efforts to reach East Williston school officials were unavailing.
The Mineola School District appeared at number 45 on the list, with 65 percent of students scoring a 3 or higher on AP exams.
Efforts to reach Mineola school officials were unavailing.
The Manhasset School District did not appear on the list, with Patch noting that some school districts’ data was not available.
