With course selections approaching and several new courses introduced for rising juniors, SIS students have begun to ponder which AP courses to take in the next school year. The freshman class, not having any experience with AP, will undergo its first AP course selections.

For the first time, AP Precalculus and College Algebra and Trigonometry will be open for juniors starting next year. This is a two-year course where students take College Algebra and Trigonometry in their junior year and AP Precalculus in their senior year. Therefore, AP Precalculus will be available from the 2025-’26 school year.

This pathway is for students who want to take precalculus before they graduate high school. In contrast to the original Precalculus course that prepares juniors for AP Calculus in their senior year, the two new courses will allow students to gain the strong fundamentals necessary for college.

“College Algebra & Trigonometry (as well as AP Precalculus) is being offered to give ambitious SIS students more flexibility in their high school experience,” Nathan Warkentin, math teacher at SIS, said. “Precalculus (and AP Calculus after it) are quite difficult and require a substantial investment of time even just to achieve a passing score. Students who are more interested in other fields can get some breathing space by taking CA&T; they will still have precalculus on their transcripts, and they will have better scores, too. In addition, students will do most of their work during class time, with the support of the teacher.” 

College Algebra and Trigonometry also does not use the same textbook as other math courses. This course will use a slightly more traditional textbook, with a heavy dose of adaptive math practice problems.

Sophomores in SIS are allowed to take one AP course, between AP Biology and AP World History.

“If the AP course changes do apply to the courses I take, then these changes would impact my academic career in that based on the course changes my schedule could be massively different,” Joshua Han (9), said. “I am unsure of which course I want to take so I am leaving my options open.”

Since the two courses offered for sophomores diverge between liberal arts and sciences, freshmen must consider their strengths, interests, and intended major. In most cases, those who perform better in sciences choose AP Biology and those who perform better in liberal arts tend to take AP World History.

“I am leaning towards taking AP World History next year,” Ben Lee (9), said. “I feel that I will not be able to perform well in a science course. Moreover, while some upperclassmen mentioned the harsh difficulties of taking an AP course, I would truly love to challenge myself by taking AP World History.”