AP course links
Overview
Badin High School is very proud to offer our students the opportunity to take Advanced Placement classes at our school. Badin High School currently offers eleven AP courses for our junior and senior level students. Students who sign up for AP courses have the opportunity to experience a college level course while still in high school. It is the chance to put into practice the skills and attributes that will lead to success in college.
One primary benefit is the opportunity for students to earn college level credit based on the score they receive on the AP test taken in May of each school year. In this area it is important for parents and students to be well informed regarding the individual criteria used by colleges and universities when it comes to awarding advance credit. Each college and university uses a different standard. In fact, various colleges within the same university can have a different minimum score requirement to earn credit. For example, the college of engineering at Ohio State may have one standard and the college of Education another. Students and parents are urged to research and consider this information carefully when planning and pursuing AP coursework and then applying to college in the fall of their senior year.
The second, and most important benefit, is the opportunity to take a challenging and rigorous class while still in high school. To be successful, students quickly understand the outside work requirement is not an option. Being fully prepared for class means students will be doing a lot of reading and other work outside of class, in order to fully participate and engage in the learning during class time. This is the same recipe for success students will need to follow in college.
And finally, our AP teachers, while teaching college level course work, are also high school teachers. They truly have a passion for the subject and want all their students to be successful. They work with students and provide a supportive and rigorous classroom environment where students can rise to meet the challenge of Advanced Placement course work.
Sara Stacklin
Dean of Academics
AP Exam Cost for 2025-26 school year is $98 per test
AP Biology
Instructor: Mrs. Angela Breetz
abreetz@BadinHS.org
AP Biology is the equivalent to an introductory college level course for potential biology majors. The curriculum demands highly motivated students who are willing to commit a large amount of time and effort. The contract (found HERE) is intended to explain the course and the requirements of the students.
Curriculum
AP Biology is a year long course. If you would like to see a full course description and syllabus, you can request one by seeing or emailing Mrs. Breetz or visit in room 206.
Cost
Student will be required to take the AP exam in May at their own expense. There is a $25.00 fee for laboratory materials, which will be charged to the student’s FACTs account.
AP Art: 2D-Design
Instructor: Ms. Nicole Weldy
nweldy@BadinHS.org
Prerequisite – Art III, Portfolio review, teacher recommendation and acceptance to continue into the course.
Students must display a strong commitment to developing skills and creating meaningful and well-crafted artwork. All artwork created by the student is to be 100% original by the student. AP 2-D Art and Design is an intensive study of art and design. This course requires students to present works of art demonstrating skillful synthesis of materials, processes and ideas. This course requires students to write about each piece, as well as a formal response to the questions which guide their Sustained Investigation. Students should be able to articulate their ideas, processes, revisions and development using strong visual literacy.
The AP 2-D Art and Design Portfolio Exams contain two sections. The Selected Works section requires students to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. The Sustained Investigation section requires students to conduct a sustained investigation based on questions, through practice, experimentation, and revision. Both sections of the portfolios require students to articulate information about their work.Both sections are required. Students earn a score for each section, and sections scores are combined to produce an overall portfolio score that may offer opportunities for college credit and/or advanced placement. Throughout their sustained investigation, students need to document—with images and words—practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas as well as skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. From their documentation of thinking and making, students select images and writing to include in their portfolio that most effectively demonstrate sustained investigation according to AP Art and Design Portfolio Exam assessment criteria. Process documentation images included in the portfolio should show evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas and/or of skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas, providing insight on students’ inquiry, thinking, and making.
- Students enrolled in this AP course are required to sign a course/attendance contract and to submit their AP Artwork and Final Portfolio by the required deadlines and to pay for the required AP Course fee.
- Students who create digital pieces are responsible for having the pieces professionally printed. Students will also be expected to purchase art supplies to work on pieces outside of class.
AP English Language and Composition
Instructor: Rachel Novak
rnovak@BadinHS.org
AP English Language and Composition Course Overview
The AP English Language and Composition course aligns to an introductory college-level rhetoric and writing curriculum, which requires students to develop evidence-based analytic and argumentative essays that proceed through several stages or drafts. Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments. Throughout the course, students develop a personal style by making appropriate grammatical choices. Additionally, students read and analyze the rhetorical elements and their effects in non-fiction texts, including graphic images as forms of text, from many disciplines and historical periods.
Exam Overview
The AP English Language and Composition exam includes multiple-choice and free-response questions that test essential skills covered in the core curriculum:
- reading comprehension of rhetorically and topically diverse texts
- rhetorical analysis of individual texts in isolation
- synthesis of information from multiple texts
- written argumentation
Prerequisite
There are no prerequisite courses for AP English Language and Composition. Students should be able to read and comprehend college-level texts and apply conventions of Standard Written English in their writing.
AP English Literature and Composition
Instructor: Mrs. Sara Thompson
sthompson@BadinHS.org
Curriculum
The Advanced Placement [AP] English Literature and Composition course is open to seniors at Badin. In this course, students will be required to do the work of a college freshman. Students will closely read a variety of literary genres, dating from ancient Greece to contemporary times, and write several literary analyses. Students will also write a comprehensive research paper on an approved topic.
Course Goals
- Help students grow in their knowledge and love of literature and their regard for the people who create it.
- Teach students to read, write, and discuss works within and without the evolving literary canon with precision, sensitivity, energy, and imagination.
- Encourage students to develop a deep and abiding resonance with some literary texts.
- Allow students to shape their own values and preferences with respect to both the style and substance of others.
A complete course syllabus can be found on the class website:
https://sites.google.com/a/badinhs.org/senior-ap-english-literature-and-composition/
AP United States Government and Politics
Instructor: Mr. Jordan Seitz
jseitz@BadinHS.org
In AP United States Government and Politics, students explore the following topic areas:
- Constitutional Underpinnings
- Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
- Institutions of National Government: Congress, Presidency, Courts, Bureaucracy
- Political Beliefs and Behaviors
- Political Parties
- Interest Groups
- Mass Media
- Public Policy
The curriculum is built around these topic areas and covered in the listed sequence.
An important component of the course is in-class discussion and debate over political issues. Students learn to articulate a point of view and to defend it with evidence-based reasoning. This discussion and debate is interspersed throughout the curriculum, providing regular opportunities for students to learn not just about government's parts and their functions, but to reflect and opine on the values that do, or should, underpin our system.
AP Spanish
Instructor: Mrs. Whitney Oliver
woliver@BadinHS.org
Curriculum
AP Spanish Language and Culture is equivalent to an introductory college level course. The curriculum demands highly motivated students who are willing to put forth effort in all areas of language acquisition. Students will be required to speak Spanish during class as well as be encouraged to use Spanish outside of the classroom.
We will be connecting the products, practices and perspectives of the Spanish speaking world through six AP themes:
- Global Challenges
- Science and Technology
- Contemporary Life
- Personal and Public Identities
- Families and Communities
- Beauty and Esthetic
Course objective and goals
The objective of the course is to develop productive abilities in Spanish.
Students are required to speak, read, write and listen in Spanish from day one. Our goal as a class is to develop and refine these communication skills in order to be able to communicate with anyone from the Spanish speaking world.
Cost
Students will be required to take the Spanish Language and Culture AP exam in May.
AP Calculus
Instructor: Mr. Donny Herrington
DHerrington@BadinHS.org
AP Calculus is equivalent to a rigorous college level calculus course for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) majors. The curriculum demands mature, intelligent, well prepared and very strong highly motivated students. Students must have a strong work ethic, and be willing to commit a large amount of time and effort, and to make calculus a major priority.
Curriculum
AP Calculus is a year-long course. The entire AP Calculus AB curriculum, as described on the AP website, will be taught. Students are expected to work a great deal outside of class. Students can benefit a great deal working in productive study groups, and working with online calculus resources.
Falling behind in the course can compound itself very quickly. Students find it very difficult to make up lost ground. Even students who have been very successful to date generally need to make adjustments to their studying approaches in order to deal with the demands of calculus.
AP Exam and class benefits
Students will be required to take the AP Calculus exam in May.
Not all schools, and not all departments, treat AP credits the same way. Some departments, particularly engineering, physics, and math departments, do not give credit and placement for AP Calculus. Some give credit but require the student to retake the course in college, some give credit and allow the student to be placed in the course following Calculus. College credit and/or placement is certainly not the only benefit or factor to be considered in deciding which AP classes to take. However, if it is important to you, you should contact the schools and departments you expect to be considering to clarify their rules.
AP PreCalculus
Instructor: Emily Matuska
EMatuska@BadinHS.org
Prerequisite: Honors Algebra II and teacher recommendation
This course follows the approved AP Precalculus curriculum. This course is roughly equivalent to a college level Precalculus class. AP Precalculus provides students with an understanding of the concepts of college algebra, trigonometry, and additional topics that prepare students for further college level mathematics courses. This course explores a variety of function types and their applications—polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric, polar, parametric, vector-valued, implicitly defined, and linear transformation functions using matrices
AP Statistics
Instructor: Mr. Donny Herrington
DHerrington@BadinHS.org
AP Statistics is equivalent to a rigorous college level statistics course appropriate for a broad variety of majors. The curriculum demands mature, intelligent, well prepared and very strong highly motivated students. Students must have a strong work ethic, and be willing to commit a large amount of time and effort, and to make statistics a major priority. Strong verbal and reading skills are also essential.
Curriculum
AP Statistics is a year-long course. The entire AP Statistics curriculum, as described on the AP website, will be taught. Students are expected to work a great deal outside of class. Students can benefit a great deal working in productive study groups, and working with online statistics resources.
Falling behind in the course can compound itself very quickly. Students find it very difficult to make up lost ground. Even math students who have been very successful to date generally need to make adjustments to their studying approaches because statistics is much more conceptual and verbal than the math courses previously experienced.
AP Exam and class benefits
Students will be required to take the AP Statistics exam in May.
AP Statistics should be of value to students in a broad variety of majors. Data analysis, estimation and hypothesis testing are of increasing importance in many fields. Technology and globalization among other factors have made statistics the fastest growing field in mathematics.
AP Physics
Instructor: Mr. Joel Smith
JSmith@BadinHS.org
Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in calculus or and recommendations of the student’s math and science teachers, grades: 11 & 12
This course is a study of the concepts and processes critical to understanding matter and energy and the physical universe. Emphasis is placed on mechanics (two quarters), wave phenomena, electricity, magnetism, and modern physics and relativity. The course will stress problem-solving skills, reading comprehension, and technical writing.
*Students enrolled in this course are required to sign an attendance contract and to take the AP exam given in May at their own cost.
AP Physics C
Instructor: Mr. Joel Smith
JSmith@BadinHS.org
Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in calculus or and recommendations of the student’s math and science teachers, grades: 11 & 12
a calculus-based, college-level physics course, especially appropriate for students planning to specialize or major in one of the physical sciences or engineering. Students cultivate their understanding of physics through classroom study, in-class activity, and hands-on, inquiry-based laboratory work as they explore concepts like change, force interactions, fields, and conservation.
*Students enrolled in this course are required to sign an attendance contract and to take the AP exam given in May at their own cost.
AP United States History
Instructor: Mr. Adam Schuckman
ASchuckman@BadinHS.org
Curriculum
The Advanced Placement United States History course is equivalent to a college level survey course in United States history. The course curriculum consists of a complete review of United States history from pre-Columbus through modern times. The course is broken into nine individual units of study, studied chronologically and divided at critical changing points in United States history. Course work is designed to provide students with the opportunity to develop the foundational historical thinking and reasoning skills, while examining primary and secondary sources about United States history.
If you are interested in finding out more, see Mr. Schuckman in room 007 and request a copy of the full syllabus.
AP Exam
The course requires that all students take the AP Exam at the beginning of May.