The Bishop Dunne Falconettes perform their drill routine last Friday, September 18, at the first pep rally of the year. In addition to having an undefeated football season so far, 97 of the school's students have already earned college credit by taking AP classes in high school - something worth dancing about! Recent graduates are attending Ivy League's Dartmouth and Brown University, Notre Dame, The Air Force Academy, UT, OSU and OU on full scholarships.
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Each May, approximately 100 Bishop Dunne students take Advanced Placement exams, hoping to earn college credit for their hard work in high school. This year's results yielded outstanding results -- 97 students received qualifying scores.
Sixteen Bishop Dunne students were identified as AP scholars, including one AP Scholar with Honor, and four AP Scholars with Distinction.
- AP Scholar: Granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams
- AP Scholar with Honor: Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams
- AP Scholar with Distinction: Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams
This means that these 16 Bishop Dunne students have earned enough credit on AP exams to exempt them from the equivalent of one semester's worth of college classes. Should these students take even more AP tests, they could end up with enough credits to begin their college career as a sophomore and, in effect, save an entire year of freshman tuition.
Among these students are current seniors Hank Blackburn, Jane Kelleher, Sai Lammata, Amanda Ramos, and Andy Rubarth. And though they are only juniors, Rachel Gully, Heath Kuykendall, and Payton Matous have also already earned this award.
Students prepare for the tests through their AP classes and weekly study sessions. Any student willing to work hard to learn the AP material is encouraged to take an AP class.
Each test costs $85 but has the potential to save students hundreds of dollars of college tuition. The tests take place during the school day in the first, second, and third week of May. Students who consistently perform well on practice activities in their AP class should take the AP test. If they have doubts, their teacher can help them make a decision about whether or not to take the test.
Students as young as 7th grade can take pre-AP classes. AP World Geography is available to freshmen and sophomores every other year, AP World History is available to sophomores, and there is a large number of AP classes to choose from for juniors and seniors.
For more information about Bishop Dunne see the school’s website: www.bdcs.org.
For more information on AP classes and tests, please contact Ms. Amanda York, AP Chair, at ayork@bdcs.org.
The 15th Annual Bishop Dunne 100 Dinner will be held on Thursday evening, October 22, 2015. Funds raised go to pay for tuition assistance for the next 100 students to attend Bishop Dunne. Dr. Frederick Cerise, CEO of Parkland Hospital, is the keynote speaker. For more information contact Mary Gracheck at mgracheck@bdcs.org.