Hoover High School Earns Prestigious Award from the College Board of America

Editor's Note: The following was written by Michael Gallina, superintendent of North Canton City Schools.

The title of this article is truly an eye-catcher! When you see our school district referenced with the entire nation in terms of an award, we need to pause and take note! This particular honor deals with Advanced Placement course work taken by our high school students. And, it has a great story line with an implication that I believe puts our school district and community in position to be considered a global competitor. Let’s unravel this recent honor!

What is this particular Advanced Placement honor?

Hoover High School has achieved something very remarkable. We have managed to open the doors of our AP classrooms to many more students, while also increasing the percentage of students earning high enough AP Exam grades to stand out in the competitive college admissions process and to qualify for college credit and placement. We are one of only 367 school districts across the nation to earn the AP District Honor Roll Award. And, this is our second time in a row to be honored! This puts us in the top 114 high schools in the nation to earn this honor two times in a row. Please consider this fact: We are in the top 114 out of 18,000 high schools that are considered for this honor. This puts us in the top 1% nationwide! What an honor!!

How did we earn this honor?

Since 2009, we have increased the number of students participating in AP from 322 in 2009 to 395 in 2011, while improving the percentage of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher from 75% in 2009 to 76% in 2011. The majority of U.S. colleges and universities grant college credit or advanced placement for a score of 3 or above (out of a possible score of 5) on AP exams. So, we have more students than ever taking AP and our final scores have improved at the same time! The College Board used these figures to match their criteria, which were as follows:

(1) Three years of data needed to show an increase in participation in AP coursework by at least 4% in large districts, 6% in medium districts, and at least 11% in small districts.

(2) A steady or increasing percentage of exams taken by African Americans, Hispanic/Latino and America Indian/Alaska Native students.

(3) Performance levels maintained or improved when comparing the percentage of students in 2011 scoring a 3 or higher to those in 2009, or the school has already attained a performance level in which more than 70% of the AP students are scoring a 3 or higher.

What AP courses do we offer at Hoover High School?

Hoover High offers the following AP courses: English Language, English Literature, Calculus AB, Statistics, Computer Science A, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, U.S. History, U.S. Government and Politics, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Psychology, German Language and Culture, Spanish Language, French Language and Culture, and Studio Art.

What are the implications of this special recognition?

I believe that this honor is an indicator of our community’s long-standing value of preparing our children to meet the rigor of what lies ahead in their lives after high school. We could certainly continue to meet the basic level of achievement as it is measured by the Ohio Department of Education’s School District Report Card. However, this honor signifies our community’s “reach” to meeting an even higher standard. The rigor of AP allows our students to be “pushed” in such a way as to be able to compete on an international level in terms of ability and achievement. Our staff in all grades continues to develop the “whole child” as they travel through our system. Each student is nurtured to reach his/her full potential. The AP program allows our students to continue to “reach” with this in mind! Our family support of this process is the “glue”. What a winning combination – great staff, great students, and family/community support of this on a daily basis! North Canton is truly one special place!