Advanced Placement Testing Success

Once again during the 2021-22 school year, Jesuit High School's Advanced Placement (AP) courses generated outstanding test results, setting several new marks of achievement as the school's AP program continued its overall excellence.

Among the 28 AP courses offered at Jesuit in 2021-22, a school-record 10 achieved perfect 100% pass rates in AP testing in May. Two other records were equaled: 12 courses achieving a 90% pass rate (tying with 2018), and 17 with an 80% pass rate (2021).

AP test scores are reported on a 5-point scale, with a 3 or better considered passing. American universities typically grant placement and course credit to students who obtain high scores. Jesuit's overall pass rate of nearly 79% in 2022 once again is well above the global (64.6%) and state (60%) averages despite Jesuit's requirement that all enrolled AP students must take the AP exam in that course in May; they cannot opt out, as many schools allow. This requirement maintains the integrity of Jesuit's AP program.

The 10 AP courses that produced perfect 100% pass rates in 2022 were: Human Geography (Vindri Gajadhar), Chemistry (Julie Hust), Seminar (Austin Freeman '02), Psychology (Bill Eggert '77), Biology (Kelly Kim), Research (Nicholas Finch), Spanish Literature and Culture (Dr. Cristina Delano), Music Theory (Nina Wegmann), and both AP art courses, Studio Art: Drawing and Studio Art: 2-D Design (Kevin Ball '03).

The all-freshmen Human Geography class has tallied a remarkable 97% pass rate or better all eight years it has been offered at Jesuit, with Gajadhar teaching the class since its inception. It has scored 100% the past two years.

For Seminar and both Art courses, it marks an incredible sixth straight year they have achieved perfect pass rates, all with Freeman and Ball, respectively, teaching the courses.

Chemistry recorded a 100% for the second straight year under Hust's direction. Human Geography and Chemistry registered the highest average scores this year from among all of Jesuit's AP classes, 4.67 and 4.5, respectively. Music Theory achieved a perfect pass rate in its first year under Wegmann. All three of those courses – Human Geography, Chemistry, and Music Theory – achieved perfect scores in courses where the AP pass rate in Florida for that course is below 50%.

Psychology, in its 8th year under Eggert, has never scored below 89%. The 100% pass rate this year for Psychology follows a 98% in 2021.

Near-perfect pass rates were achieved on AP exams this year in English Literature and Composition (94.2%, Greg Malafronte '05) and English Language and Composition (92.5%, Angela Hamrick), which surpassed 90% for a second straight year.

An additional five courses had pass rates above 80%: Statistics (87.5%, April Bombka), Spanish Language (86.7%, Bert Roney), Environmental Science (81%, Lauren Maguire), World History (80.8, Kyle Cramer), and Physics C (80%, Corey Perich).

"As our AP course offerings and accessibility have continued to grow, our students and teachers have continued to demonstrate a very high level of performance," said Debbie Pacheco, Jesuit's assistant principal for academics. "We are extremely proud of their dedication toward achieving academic excellence."

Under Pacheco's leadership, Jesuit has maintained strong AP results while it has continued the annual growth trajectory of the AP program. The 79% overall pass rate in 2022 marks the 9th consecutive year the school has tallied an overall AP pass rate of 76% or better.

Since 2011, the number of AP courses and AP exams given at Jesuit has risen steadily. Course offerings have escalated from 10 to 28 in that span, while the number of AP exams given has grown from 262 in 2011 to a record 1,169 AP exams taken this year. The total number of AP students in 2022 also was a new high for Jesuit, 475.

The Advanced Placement program, created by the College Board, offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. The AP curriculum for each of the various subjects is created for the College Board by a panel of experts and college-level educators in that field of study.