Melrose High to Become AP Capstone School

Melrose High School was recently notified by the College Board that the city has been accepted to become an AP Capstone Diploma Program school beginning in the 2016-2017 school year. The honor and opportunity is a credit to the school’s staff and students, and in particular the success of the Advanced Placement programming.

AP Capstone is an innovative diploma program from the College Board that equips students with the independent research, collaborative teamwork, and communication skills that are increasingly valued by colleges. AP Capstone is built on the foundation of two AP courses — AP Seminar and AP Research — and is designed to complement and enhance the in-depth, discipline-specific study experienced in other AP courses.

In AP Seminar, students investigate real-world issues from multiple perspectives, gathering and analyzing information from various sources in order to develop credible and valid evidence-based arguments. In AP Research, students cultivate the skills and discipline necessary to conduct independent research in order to produce and defend a scholarly academic thesis. AP Seminar is a prerequisite for AP Research. Students may not take AP Research without completing AP Seminar and all the required assessment components as they will not have developed the skill necessary to be successful in AP Research.

The AP Capstone program aims to empower students by:

• Engaging them with rigorous college-level curricula focused on the skills necessary for successful college completion.
• Extending their abilities to synthesize information from multiple perspectives and apply skills in new situations and cross-curricular contexts.
• Enabling them to collect and analyze information with accuracy and precision.
• Cultivating their abilities to craft, communicate, and defend evidence-based arguments.
• Providing opportunities for them to practice disciplined and scholarly research skills while exploring relevant topics that appeal to their interests and curiosity.

AP Capstone Opportunities:

• AP Seminar will be open to all students as a rigorous elective advanced placement course.
• AP Research will be open to any student who enrolls in and earns a qualifying score in AP Seminar.
• Students who earn a qualifying score in AP Seminar and AP Research, as well as earn a qualifying score in at least 4 additional AP courses, will receive an AP Capstone Diploma from the College Board.
• Earning an AP Capstone Diploma will be worth up to a semester’s worth of college credit.
• Students who earn qualifying scores in AP Seminar and AP Research, but not on four additional AP Exams, will receive the AP Seminar and Research Certificate.
• AP Seminar will be open to current 9th and 10th graders beginning in the 2016-2017 school year.

The AP Capstone Program enables students to investigate complex issues and to evaluate multiple perspectives while developing their own point of view. Research themes will be based on student interests, global or international topics as well as both local and/or civic issues. Students will further develop creative and critical thinking skills while utilizing the Quest process.

• Question & Explore
• Understand & Analyze
• Evaluate Multiple Perspectives
• Synthesize Ideas
• Team, Transform, & Transmit