With the release of last May’s Advanced Placement testing scores, Burroughs has another reason to feel “EPIC.”
The school’s familiar acronym — “Excellence, Pride, Integrity, and Community” — was reflected in student performance on the high-stakes exams, as last year’s AP cohort came together to produce one of the school’s most successful testing seasons yet.
“Last year was a highly successful year for the AP program,” noted Assistant Principal Chris Ostermann. “The majority of AP classes showed significant improvement from previous years’ scores. Furthermore, the number of students taking AP exams increased over prior years.”
In 2025, 120 AP students took 249 exams in 13 subject areas. Even with last year’s increased participation rate, the overall schoolwide pass rate increased by 7%. In AP terms, “pass rate” refers to the number of students earning a 3, 4, or 5 on the national exams. Depending on their scores, students can earn college credit.
According to Ostermann, 90% of the BHS AP students earned a score of 3 or higher in Chemistry, Computer Science Principles, Drawing, English Literature, Physics, Spanish, Government, and US History. Overall, 80% percent of students in 12 of the 13 tested subject areas earned a score of 3 or higher.
“It feels like we are finally getting back to pre-COVID engagement and performance,” said AP English Teacher Susie Burgess.
For the students who took and passed the exams, the rigorous experience was worthwhile.
“My AP testing experience was pretty good, given that it was my first time,” reflected senior Kevin Jones. “I felt my AP teachers did a good job covering the content, and I think most of my classmates would agree.”
Teachers, in turn, expressed their gratitude for their students’ efforts.
“I am incredibly proud of my AP Government students,” said Teacher Laura Larson. “AP Government can be tough because we are a spring-semester class senior year and have four months to get all the information in, so the workload can be a lot. The students worked very hard, and I am so glad that they were able to demonstrate all they learned.”
Math Department Chair Katie Wadley taught AP Calculus for the first time last year.
“I would 100% say I am really proud of how the students performed,” enthused Wadley. “I am definitely excited for this year’s group as well, as they seem eager to learn!”
Burroughs administration, AP teachers, and AP students are looking to continue the momentum over the coming months.
“As the AP program has evolved, the AP teachers and students have done an excellent job integrating ‘high-impact’ curriculum into the program, along with resources and practice tests available through the College Board’s MyAP website and teacher classrooms,” said Ostermann. “AP students and teachers are doing an outstanding job and simply need to stay the course.”
