AP Newsletter
August 12, 2019
RISD College and Career Readiness Office Changes
Entering into this school year, the office of College and Career Readiness has undergone a name change to Advanced Learning Services. The office of Advanced Learning Services includes not only topics that are college and career related but also the Advanced Learning Programs and Services (formerly known as GT or Advanced Academic Studies), and the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) departments.
Meet our Advanced Learning team members and discover more about what we do to support you and our students by visiting http://bit.ly/2z2AVwx.
It is an exciting time for our students and Advanced Learning Services will be there to help support you and our students in this work. To assist with communication to our AP teachers, the Advanced Learning Services office will provide newsletters throughout the school year. We look forward to having you join us in this journey during the 2019-2020 school year!
Elizabeth Swaner
Executive Director of Advanced Learning Services
AP Coordinators
I would like to introduce you to the individuals on your campus who assume the primary responsibility for organizing and administering the AP programs at your schools, the AP coordinators. Your coordinators work directly with you and your administrative teams to support the work of AP student join codes, exam registration, collection of exam fees, ordering and receiving tests, along with the distribution, administration, and returning of AP exam materials.
Since the release of new AP/College Board resources on August 1, your coordinators have been busy learning more about the new AP exam registration procedures and how to support you and our students with their join codes. Last week, the coordinators had a chance to meet and discuss all they have learned about this new information and how they will be able to implement it at your campuses.
Thanks to their hard work, we are finding that we will have the option of releasing student join codes earlier that the initial date we had set as September 16. Your coordinators will be able to share more about this process with you directly at your campus.
If you have not had a chance to meet your AP coordinator and administrator over Advanced Placement, please take a moment to do so.
Berkner
Coordinator- Marcia Grissom
Administrator- Kendall Perry
Lake Highlands
Coordinator- Shameka Brackens
Administrator- Lauren Hall
Pearce
Coordinator- Amanda (Stromp) Daniels
Administrator- Donna Anthony
Richardson
Coordinator- Cosondra Clay
Administrator- Michelle King
AP Course Contracts
RISD encourages ALL students to enroll in available Advanced Placement (AP) classes to enhance their academic experiences. RISD strongly believes that AP courses provide enhanced academic opportunities for students that will assist them in future college-level courses. Any RISD student may enroll in as many AP classes as his or her schedule permits.
To assist our students and their families in understanding the rigors and expectations of AP classes, the District requires that students complete an AP contract. Using this link, you will be able to access the AP contracts for the 2019-2020 school year. Please print and make as many copies of this contract as you will need for your students. http://bit.ly/2ySrfVg
All AP contracts should be completed and returned to AP teachers to keep on file for the 2019-2020 school year. At the end of the school year, AP teachers should destroy all 2019-2020 contract copies.
AP Drop Timeline
Due to College Board mandating that students register for their AP exams by November 15, we have had to adjust our drop timeline for AP and PAP courses at the beginning of the school year.
New Add and Drop Timeline:
September 4 – September 9, 2020: Window to drop an AP course for the fall semester. Your campus counselors will have the forms which students and their families will complete to drop an AP course.
Student Join Codes
If you would like to have your students receive their course join codes earlier than our initial release date of September 16, this will now be an option thanks to the work of your AP Coordinators.
Please note that we had set September 16 as the initial date to provide codes to students so that adjustments to students' schedules would be completed before codes went out. As a teacher, this would mean that you would not have to make many adjustments to your AP student resources as a student adds or drops your course.
If you choose to have your students receive their join codes before September 16, you will need to make adjustments to your AP student resources as students enter and exit your course. Talk to your AP coordinator to learn more.
APSI Certificate Submission
APSI certificates are not released by colleges and universities until the bills are paid. At the end of the summer, they will bill the Advanced Learning Services office and then we will pay for your training. Once paid, the teachers are sent a certificate for their records and they will need to provide 2 copies to RISD by September 30, 2019.
- Copy 1- to Carolyn Crise in the Advanced Learning Services office for us to submit to TEA.
- Copy 2 – to True North Logic as an external request for you to request your chosen PD hour options for 19-20.
Did I Miss Something? What is Coming?
In mid-September, the Advanced Learning Services office and RISD Curriculum Directors will host AP teachers from across the district for an AP Teacher Workshop Day. During this day, AP teachers will be able to collaborate and finalize their AP scope and sequence, testing calendars, etc. for the 19-20 school year.
This AP workshop day WILL NOT provide enough time for you and AP PLC team to begin examining and discussing the CEDs and other resources for the first time. AP teachers should already be collaborating and examining these new AP resources.
Advanced Learning Services
Email: ccr@g.risd.org
Website: http://www.richardson.k12.tx.us/
Location: 701 West Belt Line Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Phone: 469-593-0248
Twitter: @RISDCCR