Marist is making some changes to their academic curriculum for the upcoming years. These changes consist of adding more advanced placement (AP) classes and offering more options for all students.  

At Marist, the administration and the staff want Marist students to succeed.  They do their best to provide their students with excellent educational opportunities that are comparable to other neighboring schools.  Marist understands that colleges are interested and place a significant amount of emphasis on what classes an applicant has taken in high school when considering their admission.  These additional AP classes will provide more options and opportunities for Marist students. Marist staff is hoping that these changes will change the number of Marist students who attend a four year university.  

AP classes are generally more rigorous and often allow students to bypass certain low level college required classes.  AP classes are popular amongst Marist students because they   look good to colleges.   

Marist already has a lot of AP courses in our curriculum. They plan to add even more. The prerequisites for the AP classes will also change. 

“They are making them more accessible and, also making it more equitable so any students may have a chance to take an AP course here at Marist,” says counselor Joseph Dinolfo.

The courses they are adding are going to benefit Marist students in many ways. 

“Sometimes a prerequisite on a course can not allow some students to take that course or to even experience it. So, that will be an overall benefit for more students to get exposure to college level classes,” says Dinolfo.

The classes would also benefit us in that we will be competitive with other area schools.

 “If we look at the schools that we compete with like McAuley, Rice and Lawrence. They have more access for students to be able to take the AP courses,” says Dinolfo.

There are many faculty and staff who promoted the changes to the AP offerings at Marist.  The key players include Mrs. Dafney, who is the director of curriculum/curriculum coordinator, Marist Principal Mrs. Meg Dunneback, and Mrs. Joy Lewis, who is an academic dean.   The changes are happening because of the desire to promote educational equity in the building and allow students who were not previously able to take higher level classes the chance to see what a college level class is.