Starting next year, incoming freshmen will be given the opportunity to take a college level class. Before, AP courses were only offered to sophomores, juniors and seniors, but now, freshmen will also be able to take AP Human Geography.

“It’s a college level class that’s going to combine the material for AP Human Geography that deals with spatial perspectives and then the regular world geography course,” teacher Homa Lewis said. “So they’re actually going to cover two sets of material over the year.”

AP classes are often difficult, but they teach students what to expect after high school and also help to save time and money. To earn college credit, students have to pass an AP test at the end of the course. Freshmen writing essays and taking tests with students who have many more years of experience is concerning to some teachers.

“That is a problem,” Lewis said. “Just the idea that you’ve got ninth graders who are fourteen and fifteen years old taking a college class with material that’s four years ahead is a problem. So there is some concern about how that’s going to happen. But there are other school districts that do it and offer the class for freshmen, and there are freshmen that get threes, fours, and fives on the test. So it’s doable, but it’s difficult.”

While some are uneasy about the performance of the younger students, others are not as worried.

“It should not be a problem if they’re prepared,” assistant principal Bruce Coachman said.  “Freshmen can do the same work seniors can. I’m not concerned about them competing with anyone else. They’re capable just like everyone else to learn and to do well if they’re prepared properly by their teachers.”

Next year will be the first time AP Human Geography is offered on campus, and many students have already signed up, with current geography teacher Homa Lewis a candidate to teach the course.

“My background is more in history, and I’ve taught one class of APUSH, and I really liked that, but I’m kind of excited about this new class,” Lewis said. “It’s nice to start a new program. From what I’ve heard, I think enough freshmen have signed up so that there will be at least four sections.”

Eighth graders signed up for the college-level class are preparing for the challenges of AP courses to get ahead early in high school.

“I wanted an AP credit to get more out of my first year,” eighth grader Teagen Roundtree said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of work, because my older sister went there, and she said AP classes are harder than normal classes. My other sister is taking an AP class next year too, so I guess we’ll both just have to see how much work there really is.”