Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered at every high school in the Bellevue School District, with all students in grades 9-12 encouraged to take the rigorous, college-level classes. Students choose from a wide variety of courses, such as English, U.S. History, psychology, calculus, Chinese, Spanish, music theory or art history.

Most Bellevue students take at least one AP class during their high school career. In fact, 91 percent of the Class of 2013 graduated with at least one AP course on their transcript. Of those who took AP, 2013 grads earned an average of six AP credits each that they can take with them to college.

Last spring, Bellevue students took more than 6,800 AP exams. The district’s overall AP exam pass rate for 2013 is 73 percent, up from 70 percent a year ago. By comparison, the most recent national pass rate is 59 percent. While Bellevue students continue to do well in all subjects, this year’s pass rates in AP Biology and AP Chemistry saw some of the biggest gains.

The success of Bellevue students on AP exams is also the result of hard work by the Bellevue teachers of these demanding courses. Each summer, Bellevue teachers have the opportunity to attend the Pacific Northwest annual AP Institute, free of charge. This professional development opportunity is facilitated by the district and attended by teachers from across the nation. The Institute offers teachers training, strategies and support for teaching AP courses. The sessions are led by nationally-known presenters. This summer, 45 Bellevue teachers attended the intense, four-day workshop.