Buchholz High School has been named one of the top schools in the nation for math and science education by the Siemens Foundation and the College Board.

Each year the two organizations collaborate to select one school from every state in the nation to receive the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement (AP) based on the participation and success of their students in rigorous AP courses. The winning school receives a $1000 grant from the Foundation to be used to support math and science education.

“In a pool of extremely strong applicants from your state, your school’s application exemplifies your exceptional commitment to providing your students opportunities to explore the AP program and your staff’s dedication to ensuring students’ success,” said Diana Tsukamaki, director of the College Board’s National Recognition and Scholarship Programs, in a letter to Buchholz principal Vince Perez. “We believe high schools like yours represent the best of American education.”

AP courses cover college-level material and are considered a strong indicator of a student’s future success in college. Students who pass the challenging AP test in a given course are eligible to receive college credits. Last year Alachua County Public Schools had the highest percentage of high school students passing AP tests in the state.

Currently Buchholz High School offers 7 math and science AP courses ranging from calculus to physics, with a total enrollment of more than 450 students. All of those students are required to take the AP tests that correspond to their AP courses, and the school has a high pass rate. Buchholz students passed nearly 80% of the 434 math and science AP tests they took last May.

The school is also seeing significant growth in the number of students taking math and science-related AP classes and tests. Over the past five years, the school has averaged 23 additional AP exams taken each year in those courses. Assistant Principal David Shelnutt says the school works hard to encourage more students to tackle AP coursework in all subjects. That includes visiting middle schools to encourage students to include AP classes on their high school schedules, allowing eighth-graders to shadow a current AP student at the school and reaching out to parents of potential AP students. Shelnutt says teachers and counselors stress the short and long-term benefits of AP.

“Research shows that students who take AP courses are more likely to enter college, more likely to graduate college on time and more likely to attend graduate school programs,” he said. “Because they’ve mastered the higher-level concepts here at Buchholz, our students are able to hit the ground running when they get to college.”