Many sophomores in the class meeting last week were surprised to see all AP language arts courses for their junior year of high school disappear from grade course offerings. Instead of the large variety of language arts courses juniors in previous years could choose from, sophomores were presented with only two options; standard-level or high-level IB literature.
The answer provided at the assmebly was simple: If IB offers the same course as an AP class, AP classes are cut and students can only take the IB option. Students disagree with this system and want the same options previously offered. However, admin and IB coordinators believe the IB pathway is the best fit for Greeley West High School students.
Sophomore Diana Kudu has taken an AP class every year so far. She doesn’t think it’s fair for everyone to be forced into taking an IB class without any explanations. “I don’t want to be forced into IB. It just doesn’t make sense, everyone is going to have a weighted GPA now for a standard-level class. Might as well just take the standard level,” Kudu expressed.
Sophomore Arianna Ramirez believes that teachers aren’t giving students all the information about the IB courses. “When they were explaining IB, they didn’t give a lot of details. It feels like they’re holding back to make us less scared when in reality it’s going to be harder for most students and we’re going to be trapped in a class we don’t really want to do,” Ramirez shared.
IB coordinator Mr. Jonathan Lothspeich believes that IB courses benefit everyone. “This sounds scary because the classes have this label on them, but what you really need to think about is the freedom you get when you take the class. Students get to pick everything that goes into the projects, essays, texts, and global issues they want to talk about,” Lothspeich shared.
Some students don’t want to take IB courses because it doesn’t fit their pathway. “I just don’t think it’s even worth taking an IB class. I’m just going to Aims Community College anyway so I don’t even need all the extra credit. They should’ve just kept all options so every student could choose what path they really want to take,” sophomore Isaac Lopez said.
If students don’t want to take the higher-level course but still want to be challenged there is another option. Students can take the required standard-level course their junior year but they can eventually take the UNC course their senior year in hopes of getting college credit that way. IB Coordinator Ms. Kaylyn Kignman doesn’t believe this is the best option for some students. “The tricky part about concurrent enrollment is the credits aren’t always transferable to schools out of state. IB courses are universally accepted,” Kingman shared.
No matter what sophomore students want, they are required to take an IB literature course in their junior year. If they want additional information they can contact IB coordinators or counselors.
