Thank You for Allowing Your Student to Enroll in A

August6, 2013

Dear Parents of A.P. Environmental Science students:

Thank you for allowing your student to enroll in A.P. Environmental Science. This class is a challenging science course that intends to provide students the same depth and breadth of knowledge, skills and experiences, as they would find in a college science course. On May 5, 2014 all enrolled students will take the A.P. Environmental Science Exam. The cost for A.P. Exams in 2014will be $89.00, with reduced fee waivers for those students on free/reduced price lunch.

Most colleges and universities will give college credit for A.P. scores of 4 and 5, with some schools also giving credit for a score of 3. In order to receive credit for a science lab course, students may need to document their lab and field experiences. Therefore, it is very important that each student keep a notebook with course syllabus, tests, activities, labs, and fieldwork. I will not collect and grade these notebooks but will assist students in maintaining this important documentation of their experiences.

One of my professional goals is to move to more sustainable teaching practices and use less paper. Course syllabus, chapter PowerPoint, calendar and many labs, activities, tests etc. will be on my school website: Expect frequent updates on my website throughout the school year. One of the grading practices that I wanted to address is the 20% grade for quizzes. Quizzes will be nearly every day, at the beginning of class, short and a variety of formats. Students will receive a pass (50% or higher) or a fail (less than 50%) grade on each quiz. Students must pass 75% of the quizzes to get the full quiz grade. There is no partial points and no make up quizzes for any reason, even if students have an excused absence or tardy. This policy improved my student’s success rate by 50% when I taught college nutrition and was equally beneficial when I taught A.P. Biology. Class will begin some days at 7:30 AM in order to have the necessary time to perform labs and field experiences.

One of the great advantages of teaching this course to high school students is getting parents involved. Throughout this year, families will be asked to allow/participate in garbage surveys, food logs, energy audits, water use analysis and other activities. I hope that you will find your student’s experiences beneficial to you and your family. While I do not expect all students to become “tree huggers”, I do expect all students to realize the impact their choices have on the environment and move towards more sustainable practices.

Please find enclosed the TCHS A.P. ENVIRONMETAL SCIENCE STUDENT TRAVEL PERMISSION FORM. Students must return this form ASAP aswe will be scheduling many field experiences during August and need this form returned promptly. I am excited for the new school year to begin and participate in the growth that your student will experience this year.

Sincerely,

Susan Dillery

Science Department

TaylorCountyHigh School

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