Park offers both Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. While Park is officially an International Baccalaureate school, it offers the same amount of International Baccalaureate classes as Advanced Placements classes.
The 2024-2025 school year was the first year where Park no longer offered IB Chemistry, replacing it with AP Chemistry. AP Chemistry teacher Alex Polk said AP and IB both cover the same general topics, but he said that AP course moves quicker.
“In AP it is faster paced. if we don’t finish a lab we don’t finish a lab, we can’t spend another day on it. We have to keep going,” Polk said.
According to junior Adele Cormier, having an IB diploma opens many doors for scholarships and opportunities for college and can get you college credits.
“You can get college credit like AP tests if you score high enough, and some colleges have extra scholarships for students who get the diploma,” Cormier said.
According to Polk, AP classes present themselves as more achievable options to get college credit.
“It’s not that the ability to obtain credit is easier with AP. It’s more direct and straightforward with AP,” Polk said.
According to senior Ashley Berry, who has taken both IB and AP Chemistry, the AP curriculum dives deeper into the “why”s rather than memorizing formulas.
“Having a decent background in chemistry, I definitely enjoy the AP content better,” Berry said. “There are more reasons behind equations and theorems which is more enjoyable for me because I am doing something rather than just doing it to get the problem done.”
According to Cormier, IB classes push her to see different perspectives on issues that she wouldn’t have considered otherwise
“IB classes positively impact my education because they challenge me to work and think harder in class and about perspectives and topics I usually wouldn’t have had interest in,” Cormier said.
Berry said her second year taking chemistry helps prepare her for college, and her prior knowledge gave her a head start.
“I am happy that I took AP chemistry this year because it is a good preparation for college (as) I am majoring in biochemistry, and having took the IB course this class is much easier as I am able to understand old concepts more fully and I can understand newer concepts much faster,” Berry said.
Cormier said she recommends IB classes to anyone who has done well in rigorous courses or people who truly enjoy learning.
“I would recommend that if you have taken AP classes and have done well, or if you really love learning you should try (IB classes) out,” Cormier said.
