Starting this fall, students in Lapeer Community Schools (LCS) will have the opportunity to take part in an innovative new diploma program from CollegeBoard aimed at preparing them for success after high school. LCS is one of only 100 school districts in the country, and the only one in Michigan, to offer the Advanced Placement (AP) Capstone program to high school students.

The Capstone curriculum was developed in order to help students hone critical-thinking, problem-solving and collaborative skills in preparation for college rigor. It was a response to a call from many of the nation’s top universities to provide high school students with a framework for advanced courses by utilizing college-level research methods.

“(Through this program) you get students turned on to higher education in a way they are not currently,” said Susan Roth, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University. “They enter university with a different kind of attitude.”

The curriculum consists of two courses, AP Seminar and AP Research. Throughout the program, students are instructed to solve real-world problems using cross-curricular means, and then to defend their methodologies and solutions in front of their peers.
Prior to the arrival of Capstone, LCS already offered more AP courses than all the other school districts in Lapeer County combined. LCS is also the home of the AP Summer Institute, where teachers from across the country are trained to teach advanced courses.

“This program offering only reaffirms what our students and parents already know about LCS; we are the District of Choices,” Wandrie said. “If you’re looking for more choice, more challenge, this is the place to be.”

For more information, visit LapeerSchools.org.