Speaker DeLeo participates in “academic pep rally” to celebrate AP gains at Winthrop High School
Winthrop High School held a pep rally of a different sort today – not to cheer on the varsity football team but to applaud students taking college-level Advanced Placement courses.
In Winthrop and 45 other high schools across the state, the Mass Math + Science Initiative (MMSI) is improving participation and performance in AP classes. Today, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo joined Superintendent Joseph F. Lisi, Principal Gail Conlon, teachers, students and MMSI officials for an assembly to mark the school receiving a major grant to help prepare students for college and successful careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
• In just two years, Winthrop High School has increased AP enrollment by nearly 150 percent, from 67 in 2008 to 164 today.
• Through MMSI, the school has added AP courses in Physics, Statistics, and English Language and Composition.
• AP passing scores (eligible for college credit) at Winthrop High increased by 44 percent in just one year. On AP English exams alone, the number of passing scores increased by nearly 81 percent.
“I am thrilled to honor our students who have excelled in Advanced Placement courses and the MCAS,” Speaker DeLeo said. “I applaud these kids – and all our students – for dedicating themselves to academic achievement, and I am pleased that they are receiving the recognition they most certainly deserve. I’d like to thank Principal Conlon, Superintendent Lisi and our fine teachers as well as the Mass Math + Science Initiative and Mass Insight Education for their commitment to academic excellence in Winthrop.”
Massachusetts is one of six states selected to participate in an innovative program led by the National Math and Science Initiative to address the drastic decline in math and science education in the United States. A five-year, $30 million initiative, MMSI is led by Mass Insight Education in partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and private funders. Winthrop High School joined the program last year.
The program includes extensive training for teachers and supports for students throughout the school year, including study sessions after school and on Saturdays.
The assembly also featured the presentation of John and Abigail Adams Scholarships, for full tuition to any Massachusetts public college, to Winthrop High School students with the highest MCAS scores in the class.
Last month, State officials announced the AP results for all MMSI schools in an assembly at Malden High School, which Newsweek magazine recently named one of the “America’s Best High Schools,” largely because of its expansion of AP offerings. The first 21 MMSI schools nearly doubled passing AP scores in just two years.