“This school district has achieved something very remarkable. It managed to open the doors of its AP classrooms to many more students, while also increasing the percentage of students earning high enough AP Exam grades to stand out in the competitive college admission process and qualify for college credit and placement,” said Trevor Packer, the College Board’s senior vice president of Advanced Placement and college readiness.

Inclusion on the 2nd Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the following criteria:

1. Examination of three years of AP data, from 2009 to 2011 
2. Increase in participation in/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts and at least 11 percent in small districts 
3. Performance levels maintained or improved when comparing the percentage of students in 2011 scoring a 3 or higher to those in 2009, or the school already has attained a performance level in which more than 70 percent of the AP students are scoring a 3 or higher 
4. A steady or increasing percentage of exams taken by African-American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native students

Participation in college-level AP courses can level the playing field for underserved students, give them the confidence needed to succeed in college, and raise standards and performance in key subjects like science and math,” said College Board President Gaston Caperton. “The AP Honor Roll districts are defying expectations by expanding access while enabling their students to maintain or improve their AP Exam scores.”

Canyons Superintendent David Doty said the honor validates the vision and hard work of Canyons’ staff, including Chief Academic Officer Dr. Ginger Rhode, Director of Evidence-Based Learning (Secondary) Dr. Hollie Pettersson, dedicated principals and teachers.

“This is an incredible honor for Canyons School District,” Dr. Doty said. “Increasing AP participation and success rates of our students has been one of the District’s top priorities since it began operations in July 2009, and I am thrilled that the College Board has endorsed our efforts to prepare all students for higher education.”

Canyons School District’s college- and career-ready academic plan includes awarding Utah’s first college- and career-ready diplomas in spring 2011; giving the ACT EXPLORE, PLAN and ACT college-entrance test to all eighth-, 10th- and 11th-graders, respectively; rebuilding schools to accommodate 21st century education needs with a $250 million bond; and reconfiguring grades in fall 2013 to move sixth-graders to middle school and ninth-graders into high schools.