Commitment to Student-Centered Learning

Since our founding in 1887, Winchester Thurston School has led the way in educational innovation, rigorous academics, scholarly standards, and a learning environment that prepares students for the challenges of a rapidly changing, complex world. As such, we continually analyze our school model to identify any barriers that inhibit our ability to continue to expand and deepen our innovative, student-centered approach. We determined that one of these barriers was our commitment to AP courses.

The AP curriculum is standardized across all schools, which restricts the uniqueness of a WT education. As an independent school that strives for educational innovation focused on rigorous academics and a student-centered approach, it is a contradiction to outsource our top-level curriculum, delivering courses that do not fully align with our educational philosophy or best serve our students’ interests. By replacing these courses, we can focus on providing an innovative curriculum which offers one-of-a-kind learning experiences that help our students become individuals of high academic achievement and strong character who are prepared for the demands of a changing world.

WT has always been at the forefront of educational innovation and is committed to reimagining learning by expanding and deepening student-centered learning experiences anchored in real-world connections. We have ambitious plans for interdisciplinary learning that will coincide with the opening of the Joan Clark Davis Center for Interdisciplinary Learning.

This vision for our future, and continuous effort to offer the most rigorous learning experiences, will guide the development of new courses. We aim to expand our offering of advanced courses that:

• are academically challenging and promote depth of understanding
• respect and nurture students’ intellectual curiosity
• encourage interdisciplinary perspectives
• develop skills in critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration
• provide opportunities for experiential learning and independent research
• connect and deepen our real-world connections through City as Our Campus

A committee of faculty, college counselors, administrators, and other employees will be convened to create a rubric that will be used to design and assess the rigor of academic courses. This rubric will ensure consistent assessment of our rigorous academic standards. It will also enable us to clearly and simply convey the level of rigor in our courses to prospective students and families, as well as to college admissions officers.

Independent schools that have already moved beyond the AP indicated that this shift has no negative impact on their students’ college admission results nor on their alum’s performance in college. To gather our own input related to this question, our Upper School Administration and College Counseling team consulted with admission offices at a number of colleges and universities, including many of the institutions to which our students typically express a high level of interest.

Institutions of higher learning are not so much interested in the AP designation as they are in knowing whether students have taken–and excelled in–their high school’s most challenging courses.

Our College Counseling team began the conversation with college admissions officers early in our decision-making process and will continue regular contact with them as we move through our five-year plan. Our College Counseling team, and every student’s advisor, work closely with each student to guide them through the college admissions process.

AP examination scores, not the presence of AP courses on the transcript, determine what, if any, academic credit a student may receive. A decreasing number of colleges, especially the schools to which our students typically apply, award credit on the basis of AP test scores. Most universities have implemented their own placement tests for incoming students.

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.

The following are some examples of nationally leading schools who have phased out their AP offerings: Agnes Irwin; Andover; Beaver Country Day School; Brearley; Berkeley Carroll; Cate School; Chapin School; Choate; Concord Academy; Crossroads; Dalton; Exeter; Fieldston; Lakeside, Landon; Lawrenceville; Lick Wilmerding; Lincoln School, Providence; Maret School; Marin Academy; Nightingale-Bamford; Packer Collegiate; Park School, Baltimore; Potomac School: Riverdale; Spence; St. Ann’s; St. George’s; St. Paul’s.

Winchester Thurston will begin the phase out process during the 2022-23 academic year and will complete it in the 2024-25 academic year.