August6, 2013

Dear Parents of AP Biology students:

Thank you for allowing your student to enroll in Advanced Placement Biology. This class is a challenging science course that intends to provide students the same depth and breadth of knowledge, skills and experiences, as they would find in a college first year biology course. On May 12, 2014 all enrolled students will take the AP Biology Exam. The cost for AP Exams in 2014will be $89.00, with reduced fee waivers for those students on free/reduced price lunch.

Most colleges and universities will give college credit for AP scores of 4 and 5, with some schools also giving credit for a score of 3. Students with these passing scores can expect to receive 6-8 college credits and exemption from a full year (two classes) of college biology. See the AP Central website for specific college credit/score information

One of my professional goals is to move to more sustainable teaching practices and use less paper. Course syllabus, chapter PowerPoint, calendar and many labs, activities, tests etc. will be on my school website: Expect frequent updates on my website throughout the school year. One of the grading practices that I wanted to address is the 20% grade for quizzes. Quizzes will be frequent, short, at the beginning or end of class, and a variety of formats. Students will receive a pass (50% or higher) or a fail (less than 50%) grade on each quiz. Students must pass 75% of the quizzes to get the full quiz grade. There is no partial points and no make up quizzes for any reason, even if students have an excused absence or tardy. This policy improved my student’s success rate by 50% when I taught college nutrition and was equally beneficial when I have taught advanced placement classes. Class will extendsome daysbeyond 3:05 PMin order to have the necessary time to perform labs, as well as Saturday and/or evening labs. The goal is to have an extended block of lab time that the traditional high school schedule does not allow.

Please find enclosed the AP Science Contract for you and your student. I am excited for the new school year to begin and participate in the growth that your student will experience this year.

Sincerely,

Susan Dillery

Science Department

Taylor County High School

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