Important Advanced Placement Updates for 2019-20

Beginning in the 2019-20 school year, the College Board AP Program is introducing new resources and significant changes in their registration/payment deadlines. All of these changes have been designed to enhance student learning and help more students earn college credit and placement. Students will get personalized feedback through new digital tools that provide enhanced learning resources and support. Teachers will be able to track student performance through a digital dashboard and utilize an online bank of real AP practice questions and personal progress checks.

Another big change this year involves an early fall deadline for registering and ordering AP exams. The information below is critical for all AP students to follow in order to register/pay for AP exams and to access the new resources that will be used in their AP classrooms.

STEP ONE: Registering for resources and exams. Over the next week or so, teachers will connect students and digital resources during class by providing a “Join Code” to their students. Students will enroll in the class section for each AP class they are taking using the unique join code for that class.

Note--students will begin this registration process by first signing in to their College Board account. This is the same login they may have used to access past AP scores and PSAT/NMSQT scores or to register for the SAT (NOTE: The College Board account MUST be in the student’s name—not a parent account.) Students should be prepared to access that account in class by knowing their College Board username and password. If students don’t have a College Board account or are unable to locate their old username and password, their teacher will instruct them in creating a new account.

Once a student has successfully “joined” that class, they are then registered for that AP exam and will have access to a wealth of useful tools, study resources, and formative feedback on progress (payment for exams is handled separately and is detailed below.)

STEP TWO: AP exam fees, deadline and payment information

DEADLINE: the deadline for AP exam payments is November 1^st.

FEES: In addition to a one-time $15 administration fee, the cost of each AP exam remains $94 (with the exception of AP Seminar and AP Research which are $142).

IMPORTANT: College Board has now added a $40 fee PER EXAM for late registration, along with a $40 PER EXAM penalty for cancelled or unused exams. Registration or payments made after November 1^st  will incur a $40 fee per exam. Any cancelled or unused exams will be subject to the $40 per exam cancellation fee.

EXAM FEE SUBSIDIES:

The state of Georgia will once again cover the exam fee for one AP STEM exam for any student enrolled in an AP STEM course. Note: this program does NOT cover the one-time $15 administrative fee or any subsequent late or cancelled penalty fees.

Families of students eligible for the Free & Reduced Lunch program should contact Mrs. Sue Nichols in the AP Office for information on state and College Board fee reduction eligibility. Note: these programs do NOT cover the one-time $15 administrative fee or any subsequent late or cancelled penalty fees.

PAYMENT OPTIONS: Families prepared to pay in full by credit card are encouraged to do so through their My Payments Plus (MPP) account. Families paying by cash or check may do so by contacting Sue Nichols in Walton’s AP Office (room 300), suzanne.nichols@cobbk12.org; 770/578-3225x027.

Payments must be made in full by the November 1 deadline

ONE SEMESTER SPRING ONLY AP COURSES: students planning to take one semester AP courses this spring (AP microeconomics, AP macroeconomics, AP Government, AP Comparative Government or AP Psychology) will have separate spring registration and payment deadlines. More information to follow.

For more information: If you are interested in reading more about these changes, see the accompanying guide for AP Students https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-2019-students-parents-handout.pdf or visit https://www.collegeboard.org/ap2019, or contact Pam LaVangie at 770/578-3225x034 or pamela.lavangie@cobbk12.org

* AP, Advanced Placement Program, Pre-AP, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board. Used by permission. 

Explore AP on the College Board website at www.collegeboard.org

Are you ready for a unique learning experience that will help you succeed in college? Through AP's college-level courses and exams, you can earn college credit and advanced placement, stand out in the admission process, and learn from some of the most skilled, dedicated, and inspiring teachers in the world.

A Different Kind of Class

From the moment you enter an AP classroom, you'll notice the difference—in the teacher's approach to the subject, in the attitude of your classmates, in the way you start to think. In AP classrooms, the focus is not on memorizing facts and figures. Instead you'll engage in intense discussions, solve problems collaboratively, and learn to write clearly and persuasively.

Find Your Passion

At Walton, with 35 AP courses to choose from, including Chinese Language and Culture, Environmental Science, and Psychology, you'll be able to explore your interests and discover new passions. In AP classes, you'll study fascinating topics and ideas that just might become the foundation of your future college major or career.

Prepare to Succeed in College

AP courses can help you acquire the skills and habits you'll need to be successful in college. You'll improve your writing skills, sharpen your problem-solving abilities, and develop time management skills, discipline, and study habits.

Earn College Credit and Placement

More than 90 percent of four-year colleges in the United States and colleges in more than 60 other countries give students credit, advanced placement or both on the basis of AP Exam scores. By entering college with AP credits, you'll have the time to move into upper level courses, pursue a double-major or study abroad.

	The teachers of the Walton Advanced Learning Programs Department (ALP) are the certified teachers who have completed the required coursework from the Georgia Department of Education and have the Gifted Endorsement on their certificate, and who are teaching honors or Advanced Placement classes. In addition, the ALP Department teachers have further training in characteristics of gifted students and high achievers, and in teaching the Advanced Placement classes. These teachers encourage all students to effectively utilize their capacity to think and reason, know and comprehend, to analyze, synthesize, and apply subject material.  They also stress sensitivity, flexibility, openness, the ability to set aside established conventions when appropriate, and evolve novel processes, materials, assessments and solutions for the students in their classes.  Classes are differentiated in content, process and product in order to expand the learning for all students. Parents and students should realize that not all classes, or sections, or even students within the same class will necessarily be doing the same thing at the same time.  The ALP Department supports differentiation of instruction and assessment in all classes, regardless of designation (on-level, honors, or AP) so that 100% of our students are well prepared for success in their post-secondary ventures.

 Walton Teachers with Gifted Endorsement Credentials: