WT's Advanced Coursework: Centered for Students, not Tests

WT has replaced test-driven courses with imaginative, advanced offerings designed for our students and rooted in our educational mission. These capstone courses match the intellectual rigor of the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) classes while allowing for greater depth of exploration and expanded opportunities for interdisciplinary and project-based experiences. Colleges and universities across the nation recognize the rigor and sophistication of our advanced curriculum. Our shared aim is to design educational experiences that respect students’ intellectual curiosity and require authentic engagement with the world.

What inspired WT to redesign our Advanced offerings?

Science has taught us much about learning in the last 50 years, and our schools should reflect those discoveries. Courses emphasizing shallow coverage and memorization are rightly giving way to those that are collaborative, experiential, and interdisciplinary — with an increased focus on problem-solving. Since its founding in 1887, Winchester Thurston has been a leader in educational innovation and high academic standards. We are proud to be the first in our region to trade AP classes for advanced offerings that connect coursework to real-world issues and provide students with more time and space to engage in inquiry, research, and deep analysis.

How do our Advanced Courses challenge and inspire students?

WT has reimaged learning, designing deep, student-centered learning experiences anchored in real-world connections. We have ambitious plans for interdisciplinary learning that our new Joan Clark Davis Center for Interdisciplinary Learning will inspire and facilitate.

Our Advanced Topics courses, designated (AT) on our transcript:

prioritize deep understanding and transferable knowledge
respect and nurture students' intellectual curiosity
demand student investment, independence, and agency
integrate expert thinking across disciplines
provide opportunities for experiential learning and independent research
forge real-world connections through our City as our Campus program
develop students' capacities for critical and creative thinking, communication, and collaboration

WT also offers Upper-Level (UL) electives in all disciplines. These unique-to-WT courses echo our Advanced Topics courses in significant ways. They incorporate interdisciplinary and experiential approaches to learning, challenge students to refine and apply enduring skills and understandings, and center student voice. However, the pace and rigor of these courses are intentionally more measured, guided, and scaffolded. Most 11th- and 12th- grade students take a balanced mix of Advanced Topics and Upper-Level Courses.

How will this affect the college admissions process for WT students?

Our College Counseling team consulted with admission offices at leading colleges and universities, including many of the institutions our students want to attend. What did we learn? The shift from AP has no negative impact on college readiness or admission.

Colleges want to know that a student has taken - and excelled in - a high school’s most demanding courses. The AP designation is itself irrelevant.

Our College Counseling team is in constant contact with admissions offices across the country. We communicate clearly any changes to our program and work intentionally with students over their years at WT to choose those courses that will best serve their interests and aims.

Will WT students still be able to take AP exams?

Because WT has replaced test-driven AP offerings with advanced courses of our own design, colleges do not expect WT students to take AP exams. That said, WT offers limited testing for students wishing to submit AP scores to U.S. colleges and universities that still offer credit for them, and for students required to submit AP scores to international colleges and universities.

Students registering for AP tests should keep the following in mind:

WT courses are not tailored to AP exams, and test preparation is entirely a student’s responsibility. Any student registering for an AP exam must, on their own, research the exam’s format and master both content and question types not covered in the WT curriculum — all while keeping up with daily coursework.
We highly discourage students from taking AP exams when extensive preparation is required. With respect to college admissions, students are better served by building a strong record of success in their academic courses.
WT does not offer course credit or allow curricular acceleration on the basis of an AP exam.

WT students may independently prepare for and arrange to take select AP exams outside of their normal coursework with permission from the Director of College Counseling and the Director of Upper School. Independent test preparation should neither distract nor detract from typical coursework. Nor should students expect teachers to assist with test preparation.

Will students lose the opportunity to receive college credit by not taking AP courses?

What other schools have phased out AP course offerings?

In pivoting away from APs, Winchester Thurston joins an elite group of Independent Schools including:

Agnes Irwin School (PA), Phillips Andover Academy (MA); Beaver Country Day School (MA); Brearley School (NY), Berkeley Carroll School (NY), The Cate School (CA), Chapin School (NY), Choate Rosemary Hall (CT), Concord Academy (MA), Crossroads School (CA), The Dalton School (NY), Phillips Exeter Academy (NH), The Fieldston School (NY), Lakeside School (WA), Landon School (MD), The Lawrenceville School (NJ), Lick Wilmerding High School (CA), The Lincoln School (RI), Maret School (DC), Marin Academy (CA), Packer Collegiate School (NY), The Park School (MD), Potomac School (MD), Riverdale Country School (NY), St. Paul’s School (NH), Sidwell Friends School (DC).