School News: Colorado continues to rank in top 10 for scores on Advanced Placement Exams

Students at Landmark academy at reunion celebrate first annual latin culture week

Landmark Academy at Reunion , a tuition-free public charter school, recently hosted their First Annual Latin Culture Week, a week focused on educating students on the various aspects of Latin culture, from music and art to sports and celebrities, through unique activities. During the week-long celebration, students were able to step into the lives of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans with Latin culture lessons through piñata making, cultural crafts, songs, traditional foods and more. Students made maracas and learned a traditional Mexican Hat Dance; created Aztec suns working with metal tooling; and studied different countries in Mexico , Central America and South America . Aztec dancers from the Colorado Folk Arts Council also visited with students and educated them on the spiritual and traditional aspects of Aztec culture through dance. “We reside in a community with strong Latin and Hispanic roots,” said Matt Carlton, principal of Landmark Academy at Reunion . “Our community culture is important to us at Landmark. By providing unique ways for our students to learn the various backgrounds of our diverse community they are able to understand and appreciate different cultures.” For more information about Landmark Academy at Reunion , please visit www.landmarkacademy.org.

February 09, 2012

Colorado continues to rank in top 10 for scores on Advanced Placement Exams

The 8th annual AP Report to the Nation, released today by the College Board, reports that Colorado ranks 8th out of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. for the percentage of the class of 2011 scoring a 3 or higher (qualifying score) on Placement Program (AP) Exams during high school. Further, Colorado has consistently ranked in the top 10 over the last five years.

Most students at public colleges and universities take five or six years, or even longer, to earn bachelor’s degrees, but research has consistently found that AP students scoring 3 or higher on AP Exams are more likely than other students to be successful in college and graduate on time. This means that being successful in AP can help students and their families reduce the costs of college by helping students complete college on time.

Colorado Highlights:

• The total number of 2011 graduates is 47,987, down from 48,329 from 2010.

• The number of graduates who took an AP exam in high school increased from 16,740 in 2010 to 17,303 in 2011 or 36.1 percent.

• The number of graduates who scored 3+ on an AP exam in high school also increased from 10,330 in 2010 to 10,692 or 22.3 percent.

• On College Board’s AP equity and excellence for underserved students measure, Colorado scored at 49.5 percent. Hispanic/Latino students made up 22 percent of the class of 2011 and 10.9 percent of those students were successful AP exam takers scoring at qualifying score of 3 or higher.

The 8th Annual AP Report to the Nation national report is available at http://apreport.collegeboard.org.