Students recognized for Advanced Placement achievement

Twenty-seven members of Manchester’s classes of 2015 and 2016 were recognized at tonight’s Board of School Committee meeting for their high achievement on last spring’s Advanced Placement exams in various subjects.

Students who participate in high school AP courses have the opportunity to take an exam that can lead to college credit for scores of three or higher. These credits can allow students to save college tuition, study abroad, or secure a second major.

Manchester School District announced in October that high school students scored well above the national and global averages on spring 2015 Advanced Placement exams and narrowly outpaced the mean score of their state peers. The Manchester School District mean score on all AP exams was 3.38 (out of 5) while the New Hampshire mean was 3.23. The national and global averages were 2.82 and 2.84 respectively.

“We are immensely proud of our students and their continued level of excellence on rigorous exams such as those in the Advanced Placement program,” said Dr. Debra Livingston. “It is clear our teachers did an outstanding job in preparing them.”

Overall there were 202 students from the school district who participated in the exams, and 78.4% of those students earned a 3, 4 or 5 on their respective subject exams.

Last year’s juniors and seniors honored tonight by Mayor Gatsas and members of the school board earned a score of 3 or higher on multiple AP exams:

• The AP Scholar award is granted to students who achieve scores of 3 or higher on at least three full-year AP Exams.
• Central High School had 13 AP Scholars with an average score of 3.92.
• West High School had 3 AP Scholars with an average score of 3.67.
• Memorial High School had 1 AP Scholar with an average score of 3.5.

• The AP Scholar with Honor award is granted to students who achieve grades of 3 or higher on at least four full-year AP Exams, and whose average AP Exam grade is at least 3.25.
• Central High School had 4 AP Scholars with Honors with an average score of 4.25.
• Memorial High School had 1 AP Scholar with Honors with an average score of 4.50.

• The AP Scholar with Distinction award is granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.
• Central had 5 AP Scholars with Distinction with an average score of 4.5.

Manchester School District’s Advanced Placement program continues to grow, both in course offerings and student participation. This year, 715 students are enrolled in at least one of 15 AP classes across the district, a 23% increase from last school year. Manchester’s efforts to increase enrollment and improve access to AP courses earned the school district a spot on the College Board’s 5^th annual AP Honor Roll in 2014.   

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AP Scholars

CENTRAL                                           WEST

Kathryn                                   Aiken Nermin Hasanovic

Juliana Cable                           Karina Ithier

Molly Clark                             Benson Yu

Fenwick Eckhardt

Ryan Gamblin                                     MEMORIAL

Kimberly Harrington                Brian Nguyen

Angela Hyde

Nora Jaber

Sean Madden

Nicholas Noboa

Thomas Regan

Sarah Schultze

John Wichert

AP Scholars with Honor

CENTRAL                                           MEMORIAL

Bridget Hurley                                     Brittnee Wirth

Elizabeth Lavoie

Molly O’Connell

Jessica Tsang

AP Scholars with Distinction

CENTRAL

Elizabeth Aldrich

Jessica Dampier

Ashish Gurung

Emily Harris

Jennifer Murphy