La Plata High School recently earned a place on the Advanced Placement (AP) School Honor Roll for the 2023-24 school year. The school received an award for achieving qualifying levels of AP honor roll metrics in the areas of college culture, college credit and college optimization.

Kate Kozicki-Miller, AP language teacher at La Plata High School, has been there for over 14 years teaching students the importance of taking AP classes in high school. “There has been a big push to get students to take AP classes, to find a subject that they are confident in –– or want to grow in –– to push themselves, Kozicki-Miller said. “This is not just for a grade, it’s for them. We’re here for them.”

La Plata received the bronze award through the College Board, a non-profit that provides support to students for college success. “The AP School Honor Roll recognizes schools that have done outstanding work to welcome more students into AP courses and support them on the path to college success,” Trevor Packer, the College Board head of AP and instruction, said.

The school was the only CCPS high school that received the award for the 2023-2024 school year. “I appreciate that we were recognized for the hard work that teachers put in by getting students in the AP classes,” Douglass Dolan, principal at La Plata, said. He said that the students respect their teachers and that he is glad that the program is getting the recognition that La Plata deserves.

The bronze award signifies reaching a certain percentage of students in the graduating class who took an AP exam at any point in high school, percentage of students in the graduating class who scored a three or higher on any AP exam in high school and the percentage of students in the graduating class who took five or more AP exams in high school, with taking at least one exam during their freshman or sophomore year.

Seniors in the program, Addison Sheridan and McKinley Harrold enjoy the challenge of their AP classes. “I want to get a head start for college and challenge myself to show others that I can do more,” Sheridan said. Harrold said that AP classes are less based on the grade that a student gets and more on what they are learning. “The teachers try to make it as close to a college professor as they possibly can,” he said.

To learn more about the AP School Honor Roll program through the College Board, visit https://bit.ly/3AutL7n.

About CCPS

Charles County Public Schools provides 27,765 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 38 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.

The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Dr. Mike Blanchard, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event. 

CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).