The amount of students taking AP classes on campus has been growing enormously, but not as much as the AP Art History program which has more than doubled in number of students from 29 to 69 in just one school year.

“This year I really had an increase in my number,” teacher Amanda Beller said. “I think that this was partially due to the addition of the AP Human Geography course for freshman. This year I have 69 [students]. I am so excited that the course is growing.”

AP art history is a survey of art and architecture, from ancient times through current art and artists. For some students, taking the class is based on content. For others, it could be about something different.

“[The class size could have grown because] many students want to continue to take AP classes,” counselor Amanda Breeden said. “[Another] reason might be the teacher, Mrs. Beller. She is very passionate about art. Her passion is contagious and it is possible that her art 1 students wanted to have her another year.”

The class is only available to sophomores and above and with the AP Human Geography class the only one available for freshman, there is a growing demand for AP courses available to sophomores.

“Students now have the opportunity to ‘get their feet wet’ with AP at the start of high school, and are interested in continuing AP their sophomore year,” Beller said.

Although there are some drawbacks to the bigger numbers, Beller wouldn’t have it any other way.

“[I wouldn’t change anything about this class size]. This year has been great so far,” Beller said. “[What I dislike the most about this class] is grading that many essays, projects, etc. Other than that, I love having three good sized sections.”