At Monday’s meeting, members on the St. Clair Board of Education (BOE) spoke about their excitement and hopes for the growth of Advanced Placement (AP) courses within the St. Clair County school system.

Moody High School was the first St. Clair County school to implement the courses into its curriculum. Moody was the only high school in the county that took on the courses last year. Principal of Moody High School Cheryl Kuyk was at Monday’s meeting to talk about last year’s trial with the AP courses.

Kuyk said she believes AP courses are an important part of preparing students to compete. She also said students now have to compete with others across the world for job opportunities.

“We want to give them as many tools as possible to compete successfully,” said Kuyk.

The AP curriculum is taught internationally. To achieve a qualifying score on an AP test, students must rank in the top percentiles among all students taking the exam. If they achieve this ranking, they can obtain college credit for the subject. The credit is accepted at all colleges both nationally and internationally. The rigorous curriculum and the test are the same for all students.

Superintendent Jenny Seals said she is looking forward to seeing how AP courses compare and differ from dual enrollment classes. Kuyk said the two are very different.

Dual enrollment requires full tuition and is taught by junior college instructors, but students can also receive college credit for these courses, upon completion with a passing grade.

Kuyk said she wants both programs to grow at Moody. She wants the students to be able to choose which option is best for them individually. According to Kuyk, the best option for some students might be both dual enrollment and AP.

Nearly 40 percent of students at Moody are enrolled in either AP or dual enrollment.

St. Clair County High School will be adopting AP courses this upcoming school year. The board said that they are open to welcoming this change and excited to see where it will lead.

Other topics discussed at Monday’s meeting include:

—St. Clair passed the School Accountability Audit.

—Springville Middle School’s gymnasium floor damage was said to be worse than inspectors had initially thought. The school is now having issues with insurance because the bid for repairs was said to be too expensive.