The number of Marblehead High School students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses has increased this school year, as has the number of students earning passing marks on AP exams, according to AP Program Coordinator Susan Shatford.
At a recent School Committee meeting, Shatford presented data on AP testing. She highlighted an upward trend in students receiving a score of three or higher on exams over the past three years.
AP scores are assessed on a scale of one to five. A score of three or higher generally grants students college credit at higher education institutions.
Shatford said 376 of the 593 students in grades 10-12 at Marblehead High are currently enrolled in one or more of the 21 AP courses offered.
According to Assistant Superintendent Julia Ferreira, Marblehead High has recently expanded its AP course offerings to include four new courses: 2-D Art & Design, Research, Seminar, and Psychology.
AP courses are “rigorous and enriching” for students studying subjects in mathematics, English, language, art, world languages, history, and science, Ferreira said.
She said offering AP courses at Marblehead High is a resource for students seeking to earn college credit or enroll in advanced-level courses when they attend college.
Shatford said 87% of students in grades 10-12 achieved a score of three or higher in 2025. This has increased from 82% in 2024 and 69% in 2023.
In 2026, 353 AP students will take exams, with 62% of students taking one or two exams and 38% of students taking three or more exams, according to Shatford.
Shatford also compared data collected by the Massachusetts Department of Secondary Education to other districts in Massachusetts, including Lynnfield.
According to the DESE data, 32% of students in Lynnfield Public Schools scored a one or two on exams offered that year, and 68% scored a three or higher.
After the presentation, School Committee member Jenn Schaeffner asked if there was data on whether students were placed at a higher level based on their AP scores after graduating from Marblehead High.
Ferreira said it was a statistic to be reviewed, and “we know that colleges are becoming more selective and more difficult, and so the AP offerings are something that will help support our students who are college-bound.”
School Committee Chair Al Williams asked if AP programs were a “driver of how well you do” on college acceptance lists.
Ferreira said she would discuss this with the director of counseling at the high school, and “last year, we had one of the most impressive lists of college acceptances that I’ve seen since I’ve been in Marblehead.”
