Alabama

Which Alabama high schools offer the most AP classes? See the top 14

Published

56 mins ago

July 23, 2024

Which Alabama high schools offer the most AP classes? See the top 14

Which Alabama schools offer the most AP courses? See the top 14

In some Alabama high schools, students have the chance to take college-level German, music theory or even advanced physics courses before stepping foot on a university campus.

But options vary widely by school. Out of the 285 Alabama public and private schools that offered Advanced Placement courses, only a small number offer 25 or more unique courses for students to choose from, according to an AL.com analysis of recent College Board data.

The Advanced Placement program offers a total of 39 courses across a variety of disciplines.

AP courses are created by college faculty. To earn college credit, students must earn a score of 3, 4 or 5, considered a passing, or qualifying, score. A passing score on an AP test can unlock up to three credit hours of college coursework.

Here are the Alabama schools that registered to offer more than 25 unique AP courses in the 2023-24 school year:

James Clemens High School, Madison City: 30 courses
Bob Jones High School, Madison City: 29 courses
Thompson High School, Alabaster: 29 courses
Mountain Brook High School, Mountain Brook: 28 courses
Montgomery Academy, a private school in Montgomery: 28 courses
Hoover High School, Hoover: 27 courses
Virgil Grissom High School, Huntsville: 27 courses
Spain Park High School, Hoover: 26 courses
Florence High School, Florence: 26 courses
Hewitt-Trussville High School, Trussville: 26 courses
Vestavia Hills High School, Vestavia Hills: 26 courses
Homewood High School, Homewood: 25 courses
Huntsville High School, Huntsville: 25 courses
Loveless Academic Magnet High School, Montgomery: 25 courses

And if you’re counting pre-AP courses, three other high schools – Baker High in Mobile and Oak Mountain and Chelsea High in Shelby County – join that list.

Public schools with the largest AP offerings were mostly in big city school systems and suburban districts. Just one private school offered more than 25 courses.

To offer an AP course, schools must go through an audit process, which enables the College Board to give teachers and administrators clear guidelines. The schools listed below are cleared by the College Board to administer the course, but might not offer that course every year.

Some courses require the school to offer specific prerequisites, while others may come with costly textbooks or other materials. Schools must also assign someone local to handle auditing duties, as well as an AP coordinator.

It costs students about $100 per test to take an AP exam. Some schools cover those costs for students, and others may be eligible for reimbursement from the state.

In Madison City, Superintendent Ed Nichols credits the program for the district’s high college-going rates, but he said it takes buy-in from everyone involved.

Nichols said the district partners with local universities to give additional training to AP teachers, and frequently communicates the value of the program to parents. The district also offers a handful of pre-AP courses to help prepare younger students for higher-level coursework.

“It takes a dedicated student that is willing to accept the rigor,” he said. “It also takes support at home, and I’m proud that our board today and years before us was committed to this.”

Which schools offer AP?

Schools that offered lots of AP courses also tended to have lower rates of students living in poverty. Each of the 10 schools with the largest number of offerings are majority-white schools.

At least 150 of Alabama’s 381 public high schools didn’t offer any AP courses last year. More than 40 had only one course registered. Most of those schools were small, rural schools that enrolled fewer than 500 students.

Private schools had a big range of offerings, with some authorized for just one course and others offering more than 20.

Montgomery Academy led the state’s private schools with 28 course offerings. It was followed by UMS Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, which was registered for 21 courses.

AP English Language and Composition was the most popular offering, with 204 schools registered for the course, followed by AP Computer Science Principles, with 179 schools registered.

Less than 50 schools offer high-level calculus or physics courses.

Fewer schools, 21, offered pre-AP courses for ninth graders. And just 16 now offer both of the AP Seminar and Research courses required for the program’s capstone track, which was created in 2014.

Among elective courses, AP 2-D Art and Design was the most popular, with 63 schools registered. A small, but growing number of schools are now registered for AP African American Studies and languages such as German or Latin.

Look up your school’s offerings below. If you can’t see the table, view it here.

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Alabama

From Indiana to Alabama

Published

8 hours ago

July 23, 2024

Press Room

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – I’s been about six months since former Jags head coach Kane Wommack left the University of South Alabama to accept the defensive coordinator job with the Crimson Tide.

Wommack spent the last three seasons here in Mobile where he led South to their first 10-win season in 2022 as a division one program and their first bowl victory in 2023.

While Wommack was establishing himself as a head coach at South, the call to rejoin his friend on the sidelines at the premier job in college football was too much to pass up.

The relationship between Wommack and new Alabama Head Coach Kalen DeBoer began back in 2019 when the two were coaching at the University of Indiana.

Former Indiana head coach Tom Allen hired Wommack to be the Hoosiers defensive coordinator and told him “Find me the best offensive coordinator out there.”

Of course, it was Kalen DeBoer.

“We vetted a lot of guys out and it was clear that this offensive coordinator from Fresno State was doing a tremendous job and he and I really hit it off from the word ‘go’ and so there was a little back and forth there, in fact, he turned us down once or twice if I remember correctly.”

DeBoer eventually accepted the job.

The two only coached at Indiana together for one season, but they built a bond that has lasted over the years. Now, they are reunited, taking on the biggest college football job in the country. I asked Wommack, what was it about that season at Indiana that solidified their relationship as coaches and friends.

“We’re like-minded individuals in terms of how we see coaching” said Wommack “How we see leading young men and leading a staff, so Kalen and I have really had that connection since day one.”

For Wommack, leaving South Alabama and the Mobile, AL community behind wasn’t easy, but he only would have done it for this job.

The opportunity for two people who always hoped to coach together again is now a reality, and at Alabama no less, the premier college football coaching job.

Wommack is finishing up his move from Mobile this week and will soon officially call Tuscaloosa home, but Mobile is somewhere he’ll always come back to.

“You know Mobile guys are always going to be special to me, that’s just the way I feel about it. This is now my home and will forever probably be my home I’ll probably retire here one day.”

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Alabama

'Headed to the house': Alabama Power lineworkers make heroic return home after helping restore power for Texas residents hit by Hurricane Beryl

Published

15 hours ago

July 22, 2024

Press Room

'Headed to the house': Alabama Power lineworkers make heroic return home after helping restore power for Texas residents hit by Hurricane Beryl

Alabama Power line workers and contractors returned home Friday after spending more than a week helping Texas utility CenterPoint Energy restore power following Hurricane Beryl. The storm left more than 2 million customers without power during a heat advisory that saw temperatures reach the upper 90s and the heat index reach triple digits for much

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Alabama

Alabama Roots: NFL Draft picks sign for $137.6 million

Published

22 hours ago

July 22, 2024

Press Room

Alabama Roots: NFL Draft picks sign for 7.6 million

Dallas Turner signed his first NFL contract with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the team announced, bringing all the players with Alabama football roots picked in the 2024 NFL Draft under contract in time for training camp.

The other 26 draft picks who had played for Alabama high schools and colleges already had signed their first contracts by the time the No. 17 pick and the Vikings got the details hammered out on his deal.

Each player picked in the NFL Draft receives a four-year contract, and the range in the total value of those deals for the Alabama-roots players in the 2024 draft stretches from around $26.045 million to about $4.101 million. The approximate value of the 27 contracts is $137.606 million.

The values of the contracts are based on the NFL’s salary cap of $255.4 million for the 2024 season and this year’s rookie compensation pool in a formula spelled out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its players association. While the values of rookie contracts aren’t negotiable, other factors are, including the amount of guaranteed money.

It wasn’t always that way. Before 2011, all factors were in play for negotiation, and quarterback JaMarcus Russell (Williamson) signed the biggest contract for a rookie from an Alabama high school or college as the No. 1 pick of the 2007 draft at $61 million for six years with the Oakland Raiders.

One of this year’s draft picks isn’t in training camp and will never play in the NFL. A fourth-round selection of the Minnesota Vikings, former Alabama cornerback Khyree Jackson died in a traffic accident on July 6.

A rundown on what the drafted players who played at Alabama high schools and colleges signed for this year, with values from the sports financial web site spotrac.com:

J.C. Latham, offensive tackle, Alabama

First round, Tennessee Titans: Four years for $26.045 million, including a $15.762 million signing bonus. The contract is fully guaranteed and carries a team option for a fifth season.

Bo Nix, quarterback, Pinson Valley High School, Auburn

First round, Denver Broncos: Four years for $18.613 million, including a $10.357 signing bonus. The contract is fully guaranteed and carries a team option for a fifth season.

Dallas Turner, linebacker, Alabama

First round, Minnesota Vikings: Four years for $15.767 million, including an $8.287 signing bonus. The contract is fully guaranteed and carries a team option for a fifth season.

Terrion Arnold, cornerback, Alabama

First round, Detroit Lions: Four years for $14.344 million, including a $7.252 million signing bonus. The contract is fully guaranteed and carries a team option for a fifth season.

Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry, cornerback, Pinson Valley High School, Alabama

Second round, New Orleans Saints: Four years for $9.157 million, including a $3.48 million signing bonus. The contract includes $7.282 million in guaranteed money.

Kamari Lassister, cornerback, American Christian Academy in Tuscaloosa

Second round, Houston Texans: Four years for $9.015 million, including a $3.376 million signing bonus. The contract includes $7.091 million in guaranteed money.

Chris Braswell, linebacker, Alabama

Second round, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Four years for $6.785 million, including a $1.755 million signing bonus. The contract includes $3.885 million in guaranteed money.

Jermaine Burton, wide receiver, Alabama

Third round, Cincinnati Bengals: Four years for $5.821 million, including a $1.053 million signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Justin Eboigbe, defensive lineman, Alabama

Fourth round, Los Angeles Chargers: Four years for $4.859 million, including an $839,012 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Khyree Jackson, cornerback, Alabama

Fourth round, Minnesota Vikings: Four years for $4.847 million, including an $827,148 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Javon Baker, wide receiver, Alabama

Fourth round, New England Patriots: Four years for $4.807 million, including a $786,748 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Nehemiah Pritchett, cornerback, Jackson High School, Auburn

Fifth round, Seattle Seahawks: Four years for $4.399 million, including a $379,072 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Kris Abrams-Draine, cornerback, Spanish Fort High School

Fifth round, Denver Broncos: Four years for $4.368 million, including a $348,272 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Jaylin Simpson, defensive back, Auburn

Fifth round, Indianapolis Colts: Four years for $4.317 million, including a $297,012 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Keilan Robinson, running back, Alabama

Fifth round, Jacksonville Jaguars: Four years for $4.302 million, including a $281,956 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Javon Solomon, linebacker, Troy

Fifth round, Buffalo Bills: Four years for $4.274 million, including a $254,276 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Kimani Vidal, running back, Troy

Sixth round, Los Angeles Chargers: Four years for $4.227 million, including a $207,436 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Jase McClellan, running back, Alabama

Sixth round, Atlanta Falcons: Four years for $4.214 million, including a $194,368 million signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Tejhaun Palmer, wide receiver, UAB

Sixth round, Arizona Cardinals: Four years for $4.205 million, including a $185,228 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

D.J. James, cornerback, Spanish Fort High School, Auburn

Sixth round, Seattle Seahawks: Four years for $4.204 million, including a $184,432 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Will Reichard, kicker, Hoover High School, Alabama

Sixth round, Minnesota Vikings: Four years for $4.191 million, including a $170,620 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Tylan Grable, offensive tackle, Jacksonville State

Sixth round, Buffalo Bills: Four years for $4.19 million, including a $169,912 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Nathaniel Watson, linebacker, Maplesville High School

Sixth round, Cleveland Browns: Four years for $4.183 million, including a $162,724 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Cedric Johnson, defensive end, Davidson High School in Mobile

Sixth round, Cincinnati Bengals: Four years for $4.158 million, including a $138,388 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Justin Rogers, defensive tackle, Auburn

Seventh round, Dallas Cowboys: Four years for $4.108 million, including an $87,640 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Marcus Harris, defensive tackle, Park Crossing High School in Montgomery, Auburn

Seventh round, Houston Texans: Four years for $4.105 million, including an $85,480 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

Jaylen Key, safety, Alabama

Seventh round, New York Jets: Four years for $4.101 million, including an $80,736 signing bonus. The signing bonus is the guaranteed portion of the contract.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OURNFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at@AMarkG1.

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