EL MONTE – Rosemead High School will expand its college and career opportunities through the launch of the Advanced Placement (AP) Capstone Diploma program, which is an innovative curriculum that encourages students to develop skills for college and career readiness including critical thinking, research, collaboration and communication.

Rosemead High School is among approximately 2,000 schools worldwide to implement the program, which consists of two year-long courses – AP Seminar and AP Research – taken in sequence. Rosemead High School will launch the program with its first cohort in the 2022-23 school year.

“The AP Capstone courses enable students to explore real-world issues in great depth through research and collaboration,” Rosemead High School Principal Dr. Brian Bristol said. “This provides terrific opportunities for students to write and present their work effectively, both individually and in teams – the very skills professors and employers are demanding.”

Students who score a three or higher in AP Seminar, AP Research and on four additional AP Exams of their choosing, earn the AP Capstone Diploma and those who score a three or higher in both AP Seminar and AP Research only, earn the AP Seminar and Research Certificate.

“I decided to join the AP Seminar course because I believe it would be very beneficial for me when applying to colleges by increasing my GPA and showing on my transcripts that I took multiple AP classes,” Rosemead High School sophomore Riley Le said. “The skills that are taught within the classroom will prepare me for greater success and show that I am equipped academically for college level work.”

The first cohort of students, made up of sophomores and juniors, will take AP Seminar, where they will choose real-world topics and evaluate them from multiple perspectives. Students will work to identify credibility and bias in sources and develop arguments in support of a recommendation.

Upon completion of that course, students will take AP Research, where they will design and execute a college-level research project on a topic of personal interest. Students will receive firsthand experience in writing a research question, executing an appropriate method, analyzing data, presenting their results and defending their findings.

Both AP capstone courses are project-based, and students are required to deliver written arguments, collaborate in teams and deliver professional multimedia presentations as part of their AP exams.

“With the implementation of the Advanced Placement Capstone Diploma program, EMUHSD is continuing the expansion of college and career offerings for our students and finding ways to support their academic pursuits,” Superintendent Dr. Edward Zuniga said. “The capstone courses give our students flexibility to explore the complex topics affecting their lives and ultimately prepare them in becoming skilled collaborators, critical thinkers and consumers of information.”