Advanced Placement

Advanced Placement (AP) courses are intended for academically talented students whose abilities, interests and demonstrated levels of performance illustrate that they can successfully complete difficult, college-level work in high school.Students may earn college credit or advanced standing at many colleges by earning high scores on the Advanced Placement Tests. The tests are prepared by Educational Testing Services (ETS) and are administered at Sun Valley in May, fee applies.

Students who should consider AP include those who: 

• Show capacity as evidenced by the AP potential report

• Have earned an A or B in prerequisite course

• Have been encouraged by a teacher to take an AP course

• Have a strong mindset of persistence to meet the expectations of a rigorous course

• Are committed to completed additional required summer assignments

Students must meet the following general criteria to be enrolled in the Advanced Placement courses at Sun Valley High School:

• Recommendation of previous year teacher

• Recommendation of guidance counselor

• Approval of parent

• Student should not have more than 10% (or 10 days absent) absences during the 2023-2024 school year, unless accompanied by doctor’s notes

• If a student does not have recommended prerequisite courses a course override form needs to be completed with a recommendation from the current AP teacher and approved by Admin.

Based on each individual college and/or university’s policies, students may receive college credits based on their performance on the culminating AP exam. Students should investigate these policies for each college/university they are interested in to ensure they are aware if their target schools honor AP scores and what their requirements are.