Ridge High's Advanced Placement Passing Rate Up to Almost 97%

The percentage of Ridge High School's students taking Advanced Placement courses who passed the AP tests for college credit given each May rose to 96.7 percent for 2013, surpassing even last year's passing rate by 3 or 4 percent, said Schools Superintendent Nick Markarian.

Markarian said he had just received the report from the College Board on Monday, before he passed the news along at Monday's Board of Education meeting.

"We were very excited that we had a very high passing rate, to the tune of 96.8 percent," Markarian said following the meeting.

Markarian said that he does not know in particular why the test passing rate rose to that level, or exactly how many of Ridge's students decide to take Advanced Placement classes, considered to be college level, rather than the usual college preparatory classes.

Students who take Advanced Placement course have the option of taking the standardized exams each May. Students who receive at least a 3 on the AP exam are considered to have passed — and may receive college credits from the institution of learning they are attending — while 5 is the highest possible grade on the exam.

Assistant Superintendent Sean Siet on Tuesday said that 53.6 percent of Ridge's students signed up for at least one AP class during the 2012-13 school year.

A high percentage of students taking AP classes, with a high percentage passing exam results, has been a key factor in Ridge's continuing high ranking in such reports as Newsweek's annual ranking of high schools around the nation.