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Houses need to be built on firm foundations, and in colder weather climates like ours, far below the frostline. For Vail, that’s minimally 4 feet underground. At VCHS, we’re building student foundations, as well. At the heart of our vision, we’re striving to provide each of our students an exceptional academic foundation for college and life. For us, academics are fundamental to a school’s purpose.
We’re building foundations guided by a principle – excellence. Excellence has been in VCHS’s lexicon since our school’s founding – in logos, core values, etc. It may be an overused word, but nonetheless it bears importance to define what we mean by the word. A college professor at my alma mater once defined excellence as the process of becoming better than we once were. At VCHS, we say it this way – the pursuit of becoming better. Yes, there are external standards and benchmarks that demonstrate excellence relative to others, such as AP scores. But excellence can also be showcased as a student improves over time. It may be my bent towards the underdog, but similar to the athletic world, I like to think that the Most Improved Player Award is equally noteworthy as the Most Valuable Player Award. Think of a student moving from C grades sophomore year to B grades junior year – is that not excellent? It’s both-and. In other words, excellence is both achieving high standards (external) and the pursuit of becoming better (internal).
That’s why I’m proud of what our students as a whole achieved last school year with their AP Exams. Our overall AP pass rate (a score of 3 or better) improved from 64% (2022-2023) to 75% (2023-2024). For last year’s juniors and seniors, the percent jumped to 80%. Keep in mind that VCHS doesn’t provide other course options apart from AP courses in several subjects (AP English Language, AP World History, AP US History, AP Science options, etc.). To achieve a 75% pass rate when sophomores are required to take AP World History and the average VCHS graduate will take 7 AP courses, is quite a feat.
A special shout out goes to Mr. Jager and his 2023-2024 AP Calculus AB and BC students. Since 2008, his classroom has chronicled AP Calculus Scores of 4’s and 5’s on a Wall of Fame. Up until last school year, the greatest number of students to achieve this honor in a school year was fourteen (2014). Over the summer, twenty students joined the ranks and now have a gold plate on a plaque that bears each of their names.
I’m amazed at the academic credentials our graduates bring with them to the colleges they attend. With DE and AP credits, VCHS young alums are positioned to graduate in less than four years or have doors opened for advancement with double majors and minors. But even more importantly, they are well prepared for the academic rigor of college. I hear time and time again how thankful they are for the strong academic foundation laid at VCHS – far beyond their college peers. Yes, college acceptances are important, but even more important is college preparation. With an academic foundation far beneath the frostline, Saints at graduation stand out with both.
Steve O'Neil
Head of School
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