With the first semester of the school year at an end, it is already time for students of all grades at ORRHS to begin to consider their academic plans for the next year.
This task falls as well to the eighth graders at the junior high who have had a chance to tour the high school and will soon start to choose the classes they want to take for their freshman year. The same goes for the current ninth grade class, as they have a slightly limited selection of classes to decide between for their tenth grade experience.
The current sophomores and juniors have a much greater selection of courses to choose from, as ORRHS offers a number of Advanced Placement courses that students can opt to take. At a higher difficulty level than honors classes, AP allows students to take a college level course during their high school education and a chance to earn college credits depending on their exam score. AP exams are held nationally during the beginning of May, and they give scores from one to five, with five being the highest possible.
Taking an AP course can be a big decision, and therefore ORRHS is holding an Advanced Placement information night for parents and students on Tuesday, January 31. In previous years, this was held during the school day, so only students were present to hear about the options open to them. Now, parents will also have the opportunity to listen to what is offered along with the benefits of taking such a high-level class, as well as hearing firsthand from students who are currently enrolled in AP courses. The information session will begin at 6:30 pm on January 31.
The class of 2017 has already begun to hear back from early-decision colleges and will continue to receive letters of acceptance throughout the spring. In addition, several graduating students were recently admitted into Bristol Community College during their on-the-spot admissions day for seniors who had previously registered.
For those applying and accepted into multiple institutions, the decision on which to attend in the fall rests on their shoulders. For students who opted to take a gap year, the college admissions process will occur next year.
The next few months will bear the fruit of all the work that the seniors have done for at least the past three and a half years, but for the incoming freshmen and underclassmen, the decisions they make now are laying down the bricks for their own path forward.
By Jo Caynon