According to Superintendent Jeff Swensson, Carmel-Clay Schools has been named to the Advanced Placement (AP) Achievement School District Honor Roll for the second year in a row, the same amount of time that the honor roll has existed.  Swensson said the achievement will be recognized by a College Board, parent company of the AP program, representative at the Nov. 14 school board meeting.

“Across the nation, less than 400 schools even made this,” Swensson said. “It’s a phenomenal accomplishment.”

According to a list posted in a College Board press release, CCS is joined by 11 other Indiana school districts on the list, and it is the only one to have been named on the honor roll for the program’s first and second years.

Senior Sahil Sanghani, a veteran of seven AP classes at CHS, and in the process of taking four more, said one thing that really sets the district apart is the quality of the district’s teachers.

“Our way of teaching is special because it works. I can’t compare our way of teaching to that of other schools because I don’t know how they teach,” Sanghani said via e-mail. “(However), I think it might be the quality of our teachers here. They know what they are doing.”

Sanghani said most of the colleges he’s applying to actually don’t accept AP credit, so he is taking advantage of the program more to build a good foundation to go to college with.

“AP classes offer a higher level of thinking that allows a better understanding of subject matter and better problem solving ability,” he said.

All in all, Swensson said he was excited to hear that CHS has such opportunities to be on a national stage in terms of its rankings and achievements.

“If you think about all the things that we achieve as a district,” Swensson said, “You think, ‘Oh, local schools,’ and we’re very proud to be our community school district, but it’s also pretty significant to have a national spotlight shining on us.”