Valley Catholic High School Named Best Math and Science Advanced Placement Program in Oregon
Friday, February 13, 2009
This past Friday the 13th turned out to be a great day for the students, faculty and staff at Valley Catholic High School. On that day, the high school received notification that it is Oregon’s winner of the 2009 Siemens Award for Advanced Placement.
The award is sponsored jointly by the Siemens Foundation and the College Board — the organization that administers, among other examinations, the SAT and AP tests. The Siemens Foundation provides more than $7 million annually in support of educational initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math in the United States.
The Siemens Foundation’s description of the award states: “The Siemens Foundation honors one high school per state in recognition of the schools that are leading their state in AP participation and performance in science, math and technology.” Valley Catholic High School’s Advanced Placement programs in math and science were judged to be the best in Oregon.
Principal Ross Thomas is thrilled with the honor. “Awards are always pleasant to receive,” he said, “but this one, based not on reputation or any other subjective standard but on actual performance by our students on AP examinations, is especially welcome as a confirmation of the fine work of our math and science departments and, of course, of our students.”
The award letter reads in part, “In a pool of extremely strong applicants from your state, your school’s commitment . . . and your staff’s dedication to student success were evident. We believe high schools like yours represent the best of American education.” To read the full letter from the College Board, click here.
Valley Catholic High School’s burgeoning AP program for Math and Science offers three levels of Calculus, two levels of Physics, two sections of Biology and a section of Chemistry. The high school’s success in part is due to its feeder program at the 7th and 8th grade level which was awarded the Best Science Research Program for 2008 by OMSI at the Intel Science Fair Expo for all middle schools in Oregon and SW Washington.
In the area of math, all students in Calculus I and Calculus II must take the AP exam in May. They cannot opt out. The purpose of the course is for students to do their best even when the bar is set high. The number taking the test varies from year to year, but for the last five years has averaged 28 students, and the graduating class has averaged about 80 students for those years.
The average AP score for combined Calculus AB and Calculus BC (that is, Calculus I and Calculus II):
- 2007 4.21
- 2006 4.42
- 2005 4.19
- 2004 4.09
The percent earning a 4 or 5 on either test:
- 2008 82%
- 2007 84%
- 2006 83%
- 2005 81%
- 2004 74%
Valley Catholic High School teaches 10 AP courses including:
- Chemistry
- Biology
- Physics B
- Physics C
- Calculus AB
- Calculus BC
- English: Language and Composition
- English: Literature and Composition
- Art
- Music Theory
Students are also able to take AP tests in six other disciplines including U.S. History, Japanese, French, Spanish, Economics and Psychology.
Public announcement of the Siemens AP awards were made on Thursday, Feb. 19 on the Siemens Foundation Web site. A listing of the country’s AP Winners can be found here. The names of the nation’s 50 winning schools appeared in USA Today on Monday, Feb. 23.
Principal Thomas was eager to point out, “Anyone at all familiar with our school knows of the excellence of the teachers who helped earned this award; they know also how hard our students work. It’s a great pleasure to have our teachers and students publicly recognized in this way.”
Valley Catholic extends its gratitude to its Math and Science team who helped earn this award.
Math Department
John Brunecz Bio
Jessica Frank Bio
Kipp Johnson Bio
Becky Kemper Bio
Science Department
June Poling Bio
Michael Seiwald Bio
Jessica VanDerVolgen Bio
Gary Withers Bio
ABOUT VALLEY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
Valley Catholic High School in Beaverton is part of the Valley Catholic School system — a private, Catholic, PreK-12 school founded by the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. The college preparatory school educates 375 co-ed, students in grades 9-12. There are more than 1,000 students on the entire Valley Catholic campus.
For press inquiries about the Siemens Foundation, contact Valerie Francois at (732) 590-5292.
For press inquiries or interviews for Valley Catholic High School, contact Karen Crandal at (503) 906-1119.
RSS