CONTACT:  Wendy V. Long, Public Relations

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Three Gateway grads receive AP Awards

Huntington- Three graduates from Gateway Regional High School have earned AP Scholar awards by the College Board, in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) Exams, taken in May 2006.

One student qualified for the National AP Scholar Award by earning an average grade of a 4 or higher on a 5-point scale on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams.  Sarah C. Hopson of Blandford earned this achievement, which is the highest AP honor available.  She was also named an AP Scholar With Distinction last year for having received an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. Hopson is currently attending Mount Holyoke College.

Two students earned the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher.  The AP Scholars are Janine R. Beauregard of Westfield and Vitaliy N. Yusenko of Feeding Hills. Beauregard is currently enrolled at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth campus; Yusenko is a student at Western New England College.

All three students graduated in June 2006.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school, and to receive college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams.  About 18 percent of the more than 1.3 million high school students in 16,000 high schools worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar.

Most colleges and universities award credits, advanced placement, or both based on successful performance on the AP Exams.  More than 1,400 institutions award a full year’s credit (sophomore standing) to students presenting a sufficient number of qualifying grades.  In 2006, thirty-five AP Exams were offered in a wide variety of subject areas, each consisting of multiple-choice and free-response (essay or problem-solving) questions—except for the Studio Art exam, which evaluates students’ original artwork.

The College Board’s mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity.  It is a non-profit organization committed to excellence and equity in education.  Founded in 1900, the College Board is composed of more than 4,700 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations.  Among its best-known programs are the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, and the Advanced Placement programs.