Prospect Ridge Academy’s High School rigorous, college preparatory curriculum is modeled after the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum. In all core content areas and electives, courses are designed to prepare students for an AP based course in that area. As part of a curriculum designed to prepare students for postsecondary and 21st-century workforce success, AP curriculum has been shown to significantly increase student success in college by increasing rigor, promoting equity, and developing critical knowledge and skills.

Many students in high school programs across the state do not have access to curriculum designed to prepare them for the critical thinking necessary for college and postsecondary education. At Prospect Ridge Academy, these expectations are built into the graduation requirements for not just some students, but all students.

A significant body of research has shown the benefits that a high school-based AP curriculum can provide. Most notably, AP examinees, particularly those taking two or three AP Exams, were more likely to attend a four-year institution than non-AP examinees. As well, AP examinees, especially those scoring a 3 or higher, were more likely to graduate from college than non-AP examinees; the finding held across race/ethnicity and income groups. And, finally, since PRA is a school with a math and science focus, research supports that AP STEM examinees were more likely to graduate with a STEM major than to choose a nonscience major.