41 Long Beach High School Students Recognized for Academic Achievement

This story was written by Rosemary Leonetti.
Over the past few years, Long Beach High School has made tremendous progress towards its fundamental mission of preparing its graduates to be college and career ready, according to the Long Beach School District. 

The 2010 authorization to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma program served as a catalyst to expand the high school’s college level course offerings, thereby affording hundreds more students the opportunity to challenge themselves with a rich and rigorous curriculum while still in high school. The high school’s push to expand both access and opportunity for students to take college level courses in high school is aimed at helping more students be successful after high school.  

A total of 41 students in Long Beach High School’s Class of 2012 and Class of 2013 have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on Advanced Placement examinations administered by the College Board, including two students who qualified as National AP Scholars. Only18 percent of the more than 1.8 million students worldwide who took AP exams performed at a sufficiently high level to earn this recognition.  

Long Beach High School’s 2012 Valedictorian Jonathan Klus and 2012 graduate Ambrose Plante both earned National AP Scholar Awards—the highest honor bestowed by the college board-by earning an average score of 4 or higher on a five-point scale on all AP exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams. This is the second consecutive year that Ambrose has earned this distinction.  

A total of 10 students, including those named National AP Scholars, qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. These students are Casey Harsh, Andrew Hurst, Jordan Jaffe, Jonathan Klus, Lila Martz, Peter Morelli, Arianne Papa, Zoe Papetti, Ambrose Plante and Melanie Simons.

Another 10 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. These students are Eric Abasolo, Liam Fitzpatrick, Halie Gates, Aditi Gupta, Brandon Levokove, Jillian Piazza, Jonathan Smucker, Jane Smyth, Caroline Walsh and Annie Winerip.  

An additional 21 students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams with scores of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are Adrian Barcia, Kristen Bell, Carlos Benavides, Emily Charleson, Daniel Feldman, David Fuchs, Katharine Glazer, Dennis Khodasevich, Zachary Klein, Adam Lazare, Harry Pittinsky, Eric Rubin, Michael Serrano, Samantha Shreck, Amanda Slutsky, Grace Smith, Yahnik Smith, Connor Sofield, Katelyn Toledo, Mariah Ward and Luis Zuniga.            

Also of note, four members of the Class of 2012 who earned AP Scholar Awards also completed all of the requirements to earn the prestigious International Baccalaureate diploma. Emily Charleson, Liam Fitzpatrick, Aditi Gupta and Jane Smyth were the four dedicated students to achieve this honor.  

An estimated 500 students are currently enrolled in at least one International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, or Syracuse University Project Advance course at Long Beach High School. All of these courses are open to any student willing to rise to the challenge.