Waukee High School Makes 2015 National AP Honor Roll


For the fourth consecutive year, Waukee Community School District (WCSD) is one of twelve districts in the state of Iowa to be honored by The College Board with placement on the 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll.

The twelve Iowa school districts being honored this year are:

  • Archdiocese of Dubuque Education Office
  • Clear Creek Amana Community School District
  • College Community School District
  • Davenport Community Schools
  • Decorah Community School District
  • Iowa City Community School District
  • Linn-Mar Community School District
  • Marion independent School District
  • North Scott Community School District
  • Pleasant Valley Community School District
  • Waukee Community School District
  • West Des Moines Community School District.

The honor roll consists of 425 school districts in the United States and Canada that simultaneously achieved increases in access to Advanced Placement (AP) courses for a broader number of students and also maintained or improved the rate at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP Exam.

The complete 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll can be found here.

Advanced Placement is a program of college-level courses and exams giving motivated students the opportunity to earn credit for college while still in high school. Committees composed of college faculty and high school teachers develop AP courses. The College Board has Approved each AP labeled course through an extensive review process. These courses cover the breadth of information, skills and assignments in corresponding collegiate courses. Most AP courses at Waukee High School (WHS) are a full semester and provide a more intense and rigorous academic experience.

Inclusion on the 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2013 to 2015, looking across 34 AP Exams, including world language and culture. The following criteria were used.

Districts must:

  • Increase participation/access to APby at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts, and at least 11 percent in small districts;
  • Increase or maintain the percentage of exams taken by black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students; and
  • Improve or maintain performance levels when comparing the 2015 percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher to the 2013 percentage, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70 percent of its AP students are scoring a 3 or higher.

WAUKEE HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

  • National Merit Award Winners
    • (16) National Merit Finalists since 2010
  • Advanced Placement (AP)
    • In 2015:
      • WHS was home to (5) National AP Scholars – this distinction is granted to students in the United States who receive an average score of at least (4) on all AP Exams taken and scores of (4) or higher on eight or more of these exams.
      • 78% of WHS students who took AP exams in 2015 scored a (3) or higher on the exam.
      • 289 WHS students took 508 AP exams in 2015.
        • 252 is an increase by 37 students over 2014
        • 508 is an increase by 41 students over 2014
    • Historical Data:
      • AP Scholars (students who score 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams):
        • 2015 – 74 scholars, 3.85 Exam Average
        • 2014 – 73 scholars, 3.91 Exam Average
        • 2013 – 53 scholars, 3.98 Exam Average
        • 2012 – 41 scholars, 3.90 Exam Average
        • 2011 – 19 scholars, 4.13 Exam Average
        • In 2009-10 WHS students took AP exams in (8) areas. In 2014-15 WHS students took AP exams in (25) areas.
  • ACT Information(Class of 2014 Information)
    • ACT Composite Average: 23.6, State Composite Average: 22.0
    • The number of Waukee High School students who demonstrate their readiness for college-level coursework continues to exceed their peers across the state of Iowa. In 2014, the percentage of WHS students scoring at or above established benchmarks for college readiness was 10% or greater than state of Iowa peers in English Composition, Algebra, Social Science, and Biology. It was 12% greater in comparing Iowa peers when combining all four-subject areas.
  • Waukee High School & DMACC
    • In 2014-15, WHS students earned 6,681 credits in the concurrent enrollment program with DMACC.
      School Year WHS May Enrollment Total DMACC Credits Earned
      2005-06 144 426
      2006-07 372 1,225
      2007-08 487 1,635
      2008-09 416 1,453
      2009-10 388 1,257
      2010-11 827 2,930
      2011-12 1,053 4,070
      2012-13 1,294 5,468
      2013-14 1,470 6,810
      2014-15 1,530 6,681

       

      School Year WHS September Enrollment DMACC Unduplicated Count
      2010-11 994 237
      2011-12 1,147 470
      2012-13 1,277 555
      2013-14 1,464 637
       2014-15 1,530 614

      There is no cost of tuition for students or families who enrolled in concurrent courses with DMACC. For the 2014-15 school year, the 6,681 credit hours earned represents a savings of $935,340 for our families!