AP Seminar is a foundational course that engages students in cross-curricular conversations that explore the complexities of academic and real-world topics and issues by analyzing divergent perspectives. Using an inquiry framework, students practice

AP Research allows students to deeply explore an academic topic, problem, or issue of individual interest. Through this exploration, students design, plan, and conduct a yearlong mentored, research-based investigation to address a research question. In the AP Research course, students further their skills acquired in the AP Seminar course by understanding research methods; employing ethical research practices; and accessing, analyzing, and synthesizing information as they address a research question. The course culminates in an academic thesis paper of approximately 5,000 words and a presentation, performance, or exhibition with an oral defense.

Students will work on academic and personal goals, communication, involvement in their school and community, analytical writing, study and test-taking skills. Students will work collaboratively, learning how to participate in collegial discussions and use sources to support their ideas and opinions. They will take an active role in field trips and guest speaker presentations.

Students will refine the AVID strategies to meet their independent needs and learning styles, refine their time management and study skills, and practice analyzing prompts, supporting arguments and claims. Students will expand their vocabulary use in preparation for college entrance exams. Lastly, students will narrow down their college and careers of interest, based on personal interests and goals.

The eleventh grade AVID Elective course is the first part in a junior/senior seminar course that focuses on writing and critical thinking expected of first- and second-year college students. In addition to the academic focus of the AVID seminar, there are college-bound activities, methodologies and tasks that should be undertaken during the junior year to support students as they apply to four-year universities and confirm their postsecondary plans.

The AVID Elective twelfth grade course is the second part in a junior/senior seminar course that focuses on writing and critical thinking expected of first- and second-year college students. Students will apply to four-year universities, complete financial aid paperwork and confirm their postsecondary plans. AVID seniors will graduate with a portfolio representing their years of work in the AVID program, including a resume and letters of recommendation.

The purpose of the AP English Language and Composition course is to enable students to read complex texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers. AP English Language and Composition engages students in becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading should make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects, as well as the way genre conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing. As well as engaging in varied writing tasks, students become acquainted with a wide variety of prose styles from many disciplines and historical periods and gain understanding of the connections between writing and interpretive skill in reading. AP Language and Composition may take the place of the English III (or other appropriate) requirement. AP courses involve higher levels of complexity, greater depth, and more reading and writing than traditional courses. AP courses are recommended for students with an average English grade of C or higher, or enrollment in AVID. Students in this CAPE course must certify in Microsoft Word. Students are required to take the Advanced Placement examination.

AP English Literature and Composition engages students in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading of selected texts, students deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style and themes, as well as such smaller-scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism and tone. Reading in an AP course is both wide and deep. This reading necessarily builds upon and complements the reading done in previous English courses so that by the time students complete their AP course, they will have read works from several genres and periods — from the 16th to the 21st century. Writing is an integral part of the AP English Literature and Composition course and exam. Writing assignments focus on the critical analysis of literature and include expository, analytical and argumentative essays. AP Literature and Composition may take the place of the English IV (or other appropriate) requirement. AP courses involve higher levels of complexity, greater depth, and more reading and writing than traditional courses. AP courses are recommended for students with either an average English grade of at least a C or enrollment in AVID. Students are required to take the Advanced Placement examination.

Part of the General Education department at Pinellas Park High School.

Students in this course explore everyday situations and phenomena using mathematical tools and lenses. Through regular practice, students build deep mastery of modeling and functions, and they examine scenarios through multiple representations. They will learn how to observe, explore, and build mathematical meaning from dynamic systems, an important practice for thriving in an ever-changing world.

The purpose of this course is to provide a college level course in biology, and to prepare the student to seek credit and/or appropriate placement in college biology courses. To parallel college science courses that have a required laboratory section, it is recommended that this course be accompanied by or paired with Biology II Honors to insure sufficient time for the required laboratory experiences. Note: Students are required to take the Advanced Placement examination.

AP Chemistry is an introductory college-level chemistry course. Students cultivate their understanding of chemistry through inquirybased lab investigations as they explore the four Big Ideas: scale, proportion, and quantity; structure and properties of substances; transformations; and energy. Note: Students are required to take the Advanced Placement examination