Freshmen and sophomores at New Trier High School cannot enroll in any of the school's 30 Advanced Placement courses.
The policy, which reserves AP classes for juniors and seniors, drew fresh attention after the New Trier News published an opinion column on Nov. 11 examining the restriction. The student newspaper reported that some underclassmen view the rule as unfair, while school staff say it protects younger students from taking on coursework they aren't ready for.
Sophomore Mili Ayerza told the paper that freshmen raised the issue last year during Student Senate meetings at the Northfield campus. They argued the restriction leaves underclassmen at a disadvantage.
Thomas Shorrock, a post-high-school counselor at the Winnetka campus, offered a different view. He said students arrive from eighth grade with a wide range of study skills and habits. The tiered system lets them "find success in that 3 level and 4 level course … and work their way up to AP's," Shorrock told the student newspaper.
New Trier offers courses at different levels of rigor, including honors and high honors options. Its course levels do not establish a required sequence through which every student must advance before taking AP classes.
The district's stance is longstanding. In a May 2021 memo to the Board of Education, Peter W. Tragos, then assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, wrote that the school considers freshman- and sophomore-year courses more developmentally appropriate than AP classes, which replicate a college curriculum. At that time, the memo stated New Trier ranked first in Illinois among open-enrollment schools in both math and reading proficiency on the SAT. It also reported that 92% of the school's AP test-takers earned a qualifying score of 3 or higher as of 2021.
The next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 16, with regular business beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Northfield campus, 7 Happ Road.
