Our Lady of the Elms Students Earn AP Scholar Awards

            AKRON, Ohio (September 25, 2009) — Thirteen students at Our Lady of the Elms school have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP Exams.

            The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program (AP) provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams.  About 18 percent of the nearly 1.7 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.

            Two students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.  These students are Megan Cook and Colleen Waickman.  Five students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.  These students are Anjali Gupta, Amy Omar, Chelsea Patton, Jessica Rector, and Rebecca Zarski.

            Six students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher.  The AP Scholars are Kathleen Cawley,  Kathleen Dalton, Angela Hall, Cassandra Kazor, Elizabeth Krochka, and Emma Wallace.

Of this year’s award recipients at Our Lady of the Elms, two are juniors: Kathleen Cawley and Elizabeth Krochka.  These students have at least one more year in which to complete college-level work and possibly earn a higher-lever AP Scholar Award.

Through more than 30 different college-level courses and exams, AP provided motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to earn college credit or advanced placement and stand out in the college admissions process.  Each exam is developed by a committee of college and university faculty and AP teachers, ensuring that AP exams are aligned with the same high standards expected by college faculty at some of the nation’s leading liberal arts and research institutions.  More than 3,600 colleges and universities annually receive AP grades.  Over 90 percent of four-year colleges in the United States provide credit and/ or placement for qualifying exam grades.  Research consistently shows that AP students who score a 3 or higher on AP Exams (based on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest) typically experience greater academic success in college and higher graduation rates than students who do not participate in AP.

            The College Board is a not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to connect students and opportunity.  Founded in 1900, the association is composed of more than 5,600 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations.  Each year, the College Board serves seven million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools and 3,800 colleges through major programs and services in college readiness, college admissions, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning.  Among its best-known programs are the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT, and the Advanced Placement Program (AP).  The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities and concerns.

Our Lady of the Elms is an independent Catholic college preparatory school immersed in the Dominican tradition of education and dedicated to meeting the intellectual, spiritual, social, and personal needs of girls grades one through 12 and co-ed preschool through kindergarten.  The Elms welcomes girls of every religion, race, nationality and ethnic origin.  For more information, please contact Carli Miller at 330.867.0148.