Recently, College Board approved two new AP courses to be available next school year: AP African American Studies and AP Precalculus.
AP African American Studies (APAAS) is starting in the fall and it will cover topics such as the origins of African diaspora, African enslavement and resistance, African American culture and freedom, and the Civil Rights Movement.
Information on the course’s structure and exams have not yet been released.
Currently, there are no plans to add APAAS at Cal or other schools in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. Counselor Becky Bellini said classes have to be nominated or suggested before the school will consider adding them to the course catalog.
“I haven’t heard of anyone proposing the class or going through the new course proposal process for the class for next year,” Bellini said.
Proposals for new classes had to be submitted by Dec. 1, but none were submitted, Bellini said.
Some Cal teachers believe a class such as APAAS would be beneficial for students. APUSH and US History teacher Cleo Veizades thinks the class would be a nice opportunity to expose students to more knowledge.
“Unfortunately, in AP US History, we’re just not able to spend that much time on either the early parts of African history or the more modern parts,” Veizades said. “And that’s definitely not the entire story, so I think it would be beneficial for students, regardless of their race, to take this course.”
Cal APUSH teacher Daniel Sweetnam believes APAAS could also potentially influence students’ voices and perspectives regarding social equity.
He said by learning more about African American history, students might be motivated to become more informed and respectful individuals.
“Considering incidents that we’ve had on campus in the past, I would hope that some students who would post or use racial slurs might think twice about it after taking the course,” Sweetnam said. “We don’t have a lot of African American representation amongst students here, so some access to that part of American history would be good.”
Junior Olivia Young, who is one of the presidents of Cal’s Black Student Union, said the class could make the school’s campus more connected.
“I know a lot of people in the black community who feel isolated,” Young said. “Having a whole class where these people are meeting can bring them together with the admin.”
Freshman Jaspreet Sangha believes that APAAS should be added to the Cal course catalog as it will positively impact students on campus.
“It’s really important for everyone to learn about different cultures. It’s a big part of history,” Sangha said. “I would probably take this class because I feel like that’s something
interesting and I would really love to see different perspectives.”
Along with APAAS, AP Precalculus was approved by CollegeBoard last fall and has already been adopted by many other schools.
But Cal administrators have confirmed that there has been no talk about adding AP Precalculus to Cal’s course catalog in the upcoming years.
According to CollegeBoard, AP Precalculus is a great option for students who are less invested in mathematics, but still strive to meet college requirements. AP Precalculus can fulfill core college math requirements.
“I think AP Precalculus should be added to the school because it will help make AP Calculus AB easier to understand and succeed in,” said sophomore Satvik Mallya, who has taken Honors Precalculus. “It will better prepare you for the courses ahead and give you an idea of how hard an AP course is.”
Some students have different views on whether AP Precalculus should be added to Cal’s offered courses.
Freshman Vetri Senthil said he would rather take Honors Precalculus in his sophomore year and enroll other AP classes. To Senthil, Honors Precalculus was not necessary but instead advantageous.
“AP Precalculus is just a way for students to get ahead early in the school curriculum and boost their GPA,” Senthil said.
Freshman Rohan Byju disagrees. He thinks the course would create unnecessary pressure and just be impractical.
“I think most people who would want to take it would already be taking other APs, so they would get burnt out really quickly,” Byju said.
Jatinder Singh, the Honors Precalculus and AP Calculus BC teacher, said AP Precalculus wouldn’t be any different than Cal’s Honors Precalculus class except for the fact that an AP test to add college credits would be offered.
“It is better to take AP tests, but not necessary for a college resume,” Singh said.