Spring Valley High School is proud to announce that College Board has approved our application to implement their new AP Capstone Program for the 2018-2019 School Year. Currently, we offer over 20 AP courses to our students and with the addition of this program, we will now have a diploma program to align with those offerings. The AP Capstone is built on two AP courses- AP Seminar and AP Research- and is designed to complement and enhance the in-depth, discipline-specific study experienced in other AP courses. This is a two-year program that will earn students completing both parts 2 AP credits. College Board requires Seminar as a prerequisite to Research; consequently, Seminar is available to sophomores and juniors for the 2018-19. We will then add Research in 2019-2020 and offer both courses as we move forward.
In AP Seminar, students investigate real-world issues from multiple perspectives, gathering and analyzing information from various sources in order to develop credible and valid evidence-based arguments. In AP Research, students cultivate the skills and discipline necessary to conduct independent research and inquiry in order to produce and defend their scholarly work.
The AP Capstone program aims to empower students by:
- engaging them with rigorous college-level curricula focused on the skills necessary for successful college completion;
- extending their abilities to synthesize information from multiple perspectives and apply skills in new situations and cross-curricular contexts;
- enabling them to collect and analyze information with accuracy and precision;
- cultivating their abilities to craft, communicate, and defend evidence-based arguments; and
- providing opportunities for them to practice disciplined and scholarly research skills while exploring relevant topics that appeal to their interests and curiosity.