Our View – District recognized for AP course growth

For the past nine years, the College Board has commended 373 districts with recognition of AP District Honor Roll across the United States and Canada. This year, Cedar Falls High School was one of only two districts in Iowa to achieve this distinction, along with Pleasant Valley. 

In order to get on the AP District Honor Roll, Cedar Falls High School as a whole has defied the expectations, and over time we have expanded access to opportunities in the school as well as improvement of enrollment in AP courses.  

“We have been offering more courses, and more students have been taking them, and we are scoring high on it. Five times in the nine years that they have compiled this, we have been on it,” extended learning teacher Tim Kangas said. 

Alongside the increase of overall AP scores and enrollment, Cedar Falls High School allows students to participate in many programs affiliated with the school. 

“We offer AP courses, but we also offer chances to earn college credit while students are still in high school, which is a great way of advancing post secondary success as well as options to students. We also offer the dual enrollment courses and other courses that are in that same way like Project Lead the Way,” Kangas said. “We have got kids that are going into college that start as college sophomores because of all of the opportunities that we give here,” he said. 

Cedar Falls High School may seem like a small place that has few opportunities. The truth is that out of all of the AP districts across the nation, we and 372 other districts are opening doors for students to go into college with credits and a memorable experience from teachers that care about how we perform on exams.