BY CATHERINE GERKIS

In recent years, the class size of AP courses at MHS has grown. While many students enroll in these classes to gain in-depth knowledge in a subject area for which they have a passion, others have been taking AP classes to be with their friends or to make themselves more desirable to colleges in the increasingly competitive application process.

As AP courses grow in size, many students are dissatisfied. Larger class sizes can result in less individual attention, an issue of particular importance in AP classes in which the material is harder and extra help is often needed. A class with many students could also be harder for a teacher to control, and it is likely that slower progress would be made when compared to a class with fewer students.

Examples of large AP classes at MHS include one of last year’s AP Physics B courses, in which over 30 kids were enrolled. Another immense class is that of one of this year’s AP English sections, with a class size of 27. While classes of these proportions often arise from scheduling conflicts, it is very possible that even these would shrink if the school took certain measures to limit AP class size.

Restricting the number of AP classes by raising the grade required for entry is unrealistic, as the school already has set high standards. One solution to the issue is offering honors courses in subjects in which there is a big difference in the level of difficulty between regular and AP courses.

Adding honors courses in certain subjects would lessen the number of students taking APs, and in turn, teachers would be more available and better equipped to handle teaching these honors-level courses. The addition of honors courses as a bridge between regular and AP classes could serve to lessen pressure on students and allow them to pursue a subject at the level with which they are most comfortable.

Since many upperclassmen have certainly felt the effects of large AP class sizes, an attempt to eliminate this problem would put many at ease. Students would receive more necessary attention during class, and just as importantly, they would be surrounded by students who share a strong similar interest in a given subject.