Don’t Rush Rigor: Keeping AP Courses Two Semesters Long
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On May 9, 2025, a memo was sent to the school board stating that Hamilton High School was thinking about cutting down many two-semester AP classes down to one semester. This message listed eight two-semester AP classes at Hamilton that were being considered: US History, European History (which hasn’t run at Hamilton in a number of years), Biology, Chemistry, Statistics, Language and Composition, Literature and Composition, and Art and Design.
This email outlined the reasons as to why these classes should be reduced to one semester. It was said that these classes limit elective choices, prevent flexibility in schedules, restrict more AP credits that students can earn, and balance coursework with other “enrichment experiences.”
While students may have been consulted in the Student Advisory Board, largely this decision was made without any kind of open forum, survey, or data collection from the most important and impacted people by this decision: the students.
I do not think that two-semester AP classes should go down to one semester. Neither do many of the students who have taken these two-semester AP classes. Since they did not get a voice in this decision, I interviewed past students of these classes to better understand their perspectives, give them a chance to speak on their experiences, and share their opinions on the matter. We are the recipients of the choices made on our behalf, and I encourage administrators to consider us before they make a drastic decision such as this.
AP US History
“AP United States History (APUSH) is a class where the curriculum covers over 500 years of American history. There are nine distinct time periods that every APUSH student must know in depth for the exam. The sheer amount of content that students must learn is vast, and you must have intimate knowledge of essentially everything happening within those 500 years…Even though we had two semesters, it was still a race to the end. Covering 500 years of American history and understanding it in the depth you need to pass the exam is no easy feat…The class within two semesters caused me enough anxiety to last a lifetime. APUSH is one of the fastest paced classes I have ever taken, and being at a high achieving school such as Hamilton, you are expected to do well in these classes. This places so much pressure on its students to be exceptional in all classes, and having to learn the whole curriculum in one semester will drown students and no doubt will cause negative effects on their mental health… I believe that cutting down AP United States History is essentially setting up students for failure.” — Leyten Flood
“Trying to fit 543 years of history into nine months was difficult; I could not imagine achieving the same grades and AP score in only five months… APUSH is the hardest AP class within the social studies department due to the amount of detail and depth that is needed to understand the material fully. Limiting this class to a single semester would heighten stress in students and deter them from taking the class. This class gives so much insight that is needed not just to pass the AP exam but for understanding political, economic, and social events of our past. This class sets students up to have a strong understanding of history and how it affects our lives today. APUSH is a critical class and it should be treated as such. By limiting the class to one semester, you limit the opportunity for students to further their education in vital ways.” — Tess Peterson
AP European History
Even though this class has not run for many years in Hamilton, this class has several similarities to the vast content covered by APUSH. Learning 550 years of history is extremely difficult, not just for one country but for the entirety of Europe. It would be impossibly difficult to learn the majority of European history in just one semester.
AP Biology
“There are 8 units total and each unit covers a wide range of topics that all build on each other… The class already moves at a fast pace, so shortening it would be detrimental to students, especially those who are involved in other extracurriculars as the workload would increase. Having a year long class made me very prepared for the AP exam as we had weeks after finishing all the units to study and review. We were able to review all topics thoroughly so I didn't forget anything. This was highly successful as not a single student last year scored below a 3 on the AP exam. If the class were cut down, the pass rate would drop dramatically and it would be very hard for Hamilton students to do well on the exam.” — Ammu Nair
“The class is rigorous as is and making it one semester is bad for students and puts too much pressure on the teacher. It's setting us all up for failure with all of the topics and the depth of learning required to truly understand these concepts. Cramming everything into one semester would have an extremely negative effect on the pass rates for this test, as well as our ability to remember the information and actually use it to succeed in college.” — Dakshin Thangaraj
AP Chemistry
“This class should remain two semesters because it allows for more time to review and complete everything that needs to be covered. If this class were to be cut down to one semester, students would lose out on valuable review time and it would feel very rushed to get through all of the material… Having two semesters to complete all the coursework in AP Chem was essential to my success in the class because it allowed me enough time to learn everything and it minimized the amount of time between learning and actually taking the AP test.” — Maddie Palicka
“AP Chemistry is a very demanding course that compacts 9 whole units into 2 semesters. Although this might not seem very difficult, each unit dives deep into the concepts of Chemistry, each one building off the next…I strongly believe that the class should remain two semesters due to the difficulty of the tests and just how much preparation you need to have to succeed at the AP exam…I believe that the two semesters contributed to my success because I was able to process the info, go in after school to practice, and thoroughly understand the context throughout the semester. This helped me feel less stressed, but if it was one semester, I would have been super stressed with all of the information that would have to fit in.” — Grace Redman
AP Art and Design
“Throughout the year I saw my other 2D-art peers work hard to put an amazing amount of effort and details over months to have perfect finalized pieces, and I truly don’t know how they did everything in the time that they had. I think this class should remain two semesters because artists are able to put their best foot forward when they have that extended time. Some pieces take months to be considered finished, especially when you’re always taking in the feedback of others and trying to make edits along the way. The biggest thing the change might impact is the scores; art is all about perception, but it still takes a community to put together someone's best work forward. We all have our own preferences and biases when we look at our own art but being able to critique and having artistic peers all around me throughout the year truly made my pieces more polished and made me feel more confident to submit.” — Ace Silloway
“I believe AP Art needs to stay a two-semester class because creating meaningful, high-quality work takes time. Even with a full year, it often felt overwhelming, and I frequently took my work home to stay on track. Trying to fit everything into one semester would only rush the process and hurt the overall quality of our portfolios… Having two semesters gave me the chance to experiment, fail, and improve, helping me build confidence and develop my own portfolio style. Quality and meaningful art take time, which is why AP Art should remain a full-year class.” — Olivia Sippel
AP Literature and Composition
“Being able to take time to develop these skills over two semesters greatly attributed to the success of my classmates and me on the AP exam. While one semester can teach you these skills, it is truly the second semester where you learn to be able to do so quickly enough to fit within the time constraints on the AP exam. While some may argue that Hamilton’s longer class periods allow for students here to get the same amount of instruction in one semester as other students do in two, I feel like a lot of what helps this class work so well is the time students put in outside of class… a large part of this class is discussion based… I truly believe that the ability to create a more cohesive community by having the class stretch over two semesters greatly contributed to the value of our discussions.” — Luci Hauser
AP Statistics
“I think if the class were to be cut down to one semester it would rush students and make it harder to understand concepts and prepare for the AP exam. There is a lot of content in the class to learn and cutting it down to one semester would be very stressful for students. A two-semester format allows for stronger skills and deeper understanding to succeed in the class and on the AP exam.” — Allie Seiler
“AP Statistics is the only other advanced math course that Hamilton offers for students who don’t want to go down the Pre-Calc to Calc path. Lots of students take AP Statistics because it is advertised to be a manageable AP math class that will be useful for a multitude of desired career paths. Changing the curriculum to a one semester course would leave so many students behind.” — Emma Suneja “A Stronger Correlation: Student Success and Two-Semester AP Stats”
“The current two semester structure gave us lots of time to ask questions, practice with plenty of examples, and thoroughly review before the exam. These all helped everyone feel confident and well prepared going into the test in May, and helped us score well. Condensing the class into one semester would leave little time for review and faster paced lessons that will likely harm students' success on the AP exam.” — Ishani Shastri
AP English Language and Composition
“The writing in this class is unlike anything students learn in other communication art classes. It's a learning curve, and most students are still averaging a 3 or 4 on every essay [out of a total rubric point value of 6], going into the second semester—and that's okay! Kids come in with a blank slate of knowledge, and there is no way for students to efficiently and successfully learn that much new information in one semester…That is absolutely no way for people to learn and retain information, and without a doubt in my mind, pass rates will drop tremendously. Students will avoid taking this class knowing the insurmountable class load. By making this class one semester, all the admin is doing is setting students up for failure.” — Violet Rhoades
“Every day was utilized to the fullest, and often class ram right up to the bell. Cutting to one semester would jeopardize so much content and learning potential, and I can guarantee AP exam scores would plummet with the loss of curriculum hours. Having the extra time allowed for so many memorable and worldly-applicable lessons and projects that my peers taking Lang in one semester at other schools missed out on…I feel that the administrative team is not acknowledging student opinions on this matter, as no statements have been made to the student body on the subject, and our parents have no clue what is going on. I hope our admin team takes students into consideration when deciding whether to go forward with this, as we are the ones being affected by the changes. It ultimately begs the question: who is for this change? The teachers aren’t, the students aren’t, so who is? Ask the administrators.” — Emily Schmidt
“As a senior here at Hamilton, I’m very familiar with full year long AP courses as I’ve taken APUSH, AP Calc, AP Lang, and I’m currently in AP Chem and AP Stats. These year-long classes are some of the most challenging classes Hamilton has to offer. As a student athlete who's also involved in the school and takes academics seriously, I’ve struggled with completing the work for these classes even when I had a focus. I can say with confidence that if the content of AP Lang was squeezed into a one semester course, the learning and performance of students would suffer greatly…It would be a disservice to students by crowding all this practice and learning into one semester. If the school truly wants to give students opportunities to take AP classes and have students thrive, then AP Lang and other year long classes should stay two semesters to avoid overwhelming students and diluting the content of these courses.” — Maddie Arthur
To address some of the key points made by my peers:
Limited scheduling options:
Taking two-semester AP classes is an inherent choice of students. Students who take these classes are well aware of the costs and benefits of them, one being that their schedule is limited to the number of electives/other classes they can take. Still, students make the decision to take them. Students should have the freedom to make choices about their class load, not be restricted to what administration thinks is best for them. Students are responsible enough to take these classes; they should also be responsible to do what is best for their schedules.
Overwhelming course loads:
Although two-semester AP classes may limit flexibility in schedules, they do prevent students from overloading themselves even more. To some students, AP classes are just a possible GPA boost. Other students may feel pressure to take these advanced courses because they get pressure from themselves or others. Either way, the freedom that comes with cutting down these classes down to one semester could lead to students cramming their schedules with more AP classes than they can’t handle, ultimately leading to more stress, worse grades, and less understanding.
Competitive disadvantage compared to other schools:
In the memo, it is also mentioned how Hamilton students are at a disadvantage compared to other districts for earning college credit. But, these classes are not all about just getting college credits. These classes should be about getting an advanced education on a subject, not just about the extrinsic benefits you reap. College credits can be earned from as low as a 3 on the AP exams. Just because other schools are getting more credits overall, that does not necessarily mean that their scores are as high as our districts, and students are not getting an advanced understanding of the class as they could be with having the classes for two semesters. Having APs lengthened to two semesters enables learners to get a wider knowledge of the subjects, as well as enabling them more prep for the AP exams, improving scores and understanding overall.
Again, students taking AP classes know what they are getting into when they choose to take them. They are fully aware that they will have to balance their coursework with other things in their life, whether that be CTE, college classes, or anything else school/career related. This does force students to learn how to multitask and handle all of their different commitments, which is a skill that students will need to learn one way or another. These classes are a good way to introduce collegiate level classes while not overwhelming students with double the workload if these AP classes are condensed into one semester.
As someone who has taken multiple two-semester AP classes, some of them being considered to be cut down I could not imagine as one semester. As a student-athlete, during the season I already feel immense pressure to stay up to date on school work as well as succeed academically. Having to learn and stay up on double the material would be almost unthinkable, not to mention the stress that would accompany the workload. Even after athletics, I still struggle to stay up to date on all of my work with other things going on in my life. Having some of these two-semester AP classes combined into one class would burn me out beyond belief.
Hamilton already has excellent academics. Our pass rates are outstanding, and the knowledge that we gain from these classes is unmatched compared to other school districts in our region. In summary, instead of focusing on what two-semester classes could be changed, we should focus on their obvious strengths: preventing students from an immense amount of stress, exceptional pass rates across subjects, and a wide variety of knowledge on a subject that students can carry with them throughout their academic careers.
