Principal Outlines AP Course Progress at Mineola High School

The  prides itself on the variety of courses the school offers as well as the amount of students who graduate with Advanced Regents Diplomas, principal Ed Escobar explained to the Mineola Board of Education during a presentation Thursday night at the .

“One thing we really strive for in the high school is to give students a choice,” Escobar said, pointing out that many students have chosen to take challenging courses in preparation for college. This year 46 students are enrolled in the Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus course alone.

“Years ago, maybe 2000 or 2001, we had six students challenging themselves with an AP class. The point is that in the high school, there is a choice. Students don’t necessarily have to be in the Honors or AP-level classes in the ninth or tenth grade in order for them to take an AP class, if they choose, in the 11th and 12th grades.”

Among some of the new coursework at the high school Escobar mentioned are science research, financial literacy, musical theater, physical education leadership and contemporary issues and events of the world as coursework designed to prepare students for life in the 21st century.

While the high school offers a wide variety of AP and Regents courses, the future of education even at the high school level may be tied to not only local school budgets but the state budget as well.

With New York State facing an estimated $9 billion budget deficit, cuts to education could be forthcoming including possible changes to how Regents exams are administered. One change being discussed is while another calls for the including Italian, French, Spanish, U.S. History and Government, Global History and Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science and Geometry, leaving only algebra and English.

Currently, New York State offers 13 Regents exams with students needing to pass five to earn a Regents Diploma. Students who take and pass at least eight Regents exams graduate with an Advanced Regents Diploma.

In 2010 Mineola had 94 percent of its students graduate with either a Regents Diplomas or Advanced Regents Diplomas. Approximately 65 percent of the class graduated with Advanced Regents Diplomas, or 117 students. The total number of students graduating with Regents Diplomas last year was 54.

Escobar said educators have to use data to find out the educational needs of all students including those at the top, the middle and the students who are most at risk.

“What school used to be like years ago, 20 years ago and maybe even 15 years ago, is not the future of Mineola and the future of all schools in New York can be,” Escobar said. “The mission here is to make sure the students graduate with 21st century skills and those skills are not the same that we were teaching back in 1985.”