20 Saipan International School students receive AP Honors

(SIS) — 20 students at Saipan International School have received AP Honors in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP Exams for the 2020-21 school year.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on AP Exams.

Eight students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. These students are: Hyunmin Cho, Frederic Guintu, Julianne Hall, Cevina Hwang, Guy Yeon Kim, Samantha Liske-Clark, Arabella Loste, Yeonkyoung No, Hyeonjae Park and Jason Sablan.

Three students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. These students are Gaeul Kim, Seunghyun Kim and Ariya McGuire.

Seven students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with scores of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are Hyeonbin Jeong, Joobin Kim, Won Woo Nam, Jinju Thompson, Maury Zon Tybaco, and Jimin Woo.

SIS is also the only AP Capstone Diploma school in the region and was able to report a 100% pass rate for its 2021 AP Seminar and AP Research classes. This resulted in 8 students receiving the AP Capstone Diploma. These students are: Frederic Guintu, Julianne Hall, Cevina Hwang, Guy Yeon Kim, Samantha Liske-Clark, Arabella Loste, Won Woo Nam, Yeonkyoung No, Jason Sablan. An additional four students received the AP Seminar and Research Certificate. These students are: Eunbi Choi, Hyeonbin Jeong, Jinju Thompson, Maury Zon Tybacco

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program or AP provides willing and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 22 percent of the 2.2 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.

Through 34 different college-level courses and exams, AP provides students the opportunity to earn college credit or advanced placement and stand out in the college admission process. The 20 Saipan International School Geckos earning these distinctions had the chance to take as many as 15 AP courses during the junior and senior years. Each exam is developed by a committee of college and university faculty and AP teachers, ensuring that AP Exams are aligned with the same high standards expected by college faculty at some of the nation’s leading liberal arts and research institutions. Research consistently shows that AP students who score a 3 or higher on AP Exams (based on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest) typically experience greater academic success in college and have higher college graduation rates than students who do not participate in AP.

For the sixth year in a row, SIS has improved upon its AP results. Currently 86% of its students received a 3 or higher on AP exams. SIS is authorized to offer the following AP courses: AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Chinese Language and Culture, AP English Language and Composition, AP Literature and Composition, AP Human Geography, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics 1, AP Physics C, AP Research, AP Seminar, AP Statistics and AP United States History.