• AP logo
     
      Click this link to see what AP scores colleges accept for credit
    .
     
    The Advanced Placement Program at Furr High School
     
    Furr High School has a policy of open enrollment for AP classes, and we count on parents and students to be judicious in selecting advanced classes. Students are also placed in AP classes based on teacher or administrative recommendation. Your student may take all the advanced classes for which he/she has the prerequisite, and for which you feel he/she is qualified. Once enrolled beyond the fifteen day mark of the fall semester, students will not be permitted to drop an Advanced Placement course. In deciding whether or not Advanced Placement classes are for your student, there are certain caveats listed below that should be considered. 

     Parents, along with their students, should consider the following questions and implications as they review their student’s schedule and performance:

    • Is your child self-motivated, an independent worker, and organized?
    • Does your child have good study skills?
    • Is there a place away from the television and an internet connected computer with instant messaging where he/she does homework every night?
    • Does your child maintain a daily planner and keep up with long-term assignments?
    • As a parent, do you have time and are you willing to help your child with his/her organizational needs on a daily basis?
    • Is your child involved with one or more extra-curricular activities? How much time outside the school day is required for each activity per day / per week?
    • Does your child have a job? If so, how many hours per week are spent at work?
    • How much sleep per night does your child require to feel rested and be productive the following day?
    • For each course in which your child plans to enroll, how much study time on average will be required?
    • Is your child a fast reader with good retention?
    • Does your child make notes as he/she reads?
    • Does your child retain information from class well?
    • How well does your child handle stressful situations?
    • Is your child realistic about his/her performance expectations?
    • As a parent, are you realistic about expectations you have of your child?
     
    College Credit for Advanced Placement
    A score of a 3 is considered passing and can help your student earn college credit at most colleges and universities in the United States. Some universities however require a score higher than a 3, please check with your desired college’s admissions office in preparing to study for upcoming AP exams. Your student may have to score higher than a 3 for college credit depending on which university they desire to attend. 
     
    Furr High School is an open testing center for AP Testing. If you are homeschooled or out of district and would like to take an AP Exam offered at Furr HS. Please review the fee schedule and contact John Laymon to order before November 15th. Payment and ordering for non-HISD students must be made by the November 15th deadline.  
     
    All Furr High School students are eligible to take AP Exams for free and must sign up through their AP class by November 1st. If you have questions please see Mr. Laymon. Please practice and prepare for the exam. More resources can be found under your My AP Planner on the College Board Website.
     
     
     
    Advance Placement Course Prerequisites & AP Course Descriptions by Subject 
     
    ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
     
    Pre-AP English 1
    Grade : 9th
    Instructor: Ms. Cardwell at Naomi.Cardwell@houstonisd.org
    English 1-Pre-AP is designed to challenge students who show aptitude and achievement in English, while providing an introduction to AP assessments formats and skills. It serves specifically as a preparatory course for English 2 advanced courses. Special emphasis will be placed on developing more sophisticated writing, vocabulary and critical reading skills. Because the student will qualify for additional grade points in the advanced course, a superior level of performance is expected. Students are usually required to complete a summer reading list prior to entering the English 2 advanced classes. 
     
     
    English 2 - Pre- AP
    Grade: 10th
    Instructor :Ms. Vernon at Jeanetta.Vernon@houstonisd.org 
    Prerequisite: English 1 - Pre-AP
    English 2 serves as a preparatory course for the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Test administered at the end of the junior year. This course challenges students with high aptitude and achievement skills in writing and reading skills. A superior level of performance and outside work is expected. Students are usually required to complete a summer reading list prior to the beginning of the fall semester.  
     
     
    AP English Language & Composition
    Grade: 11th
    Instructor: Ms. Kessler at Brandie.Kessler@houstonisd.org 
    AP English Language and Composition is an introductory college-level composition course. Students cultivate their understanding of writing and rhetorical arguments through reading, analyzing, and writing texts as they explore topics like rhetorical situation, claims and evidence, reasoning and organization, and style.
     
    AP English Literature & Composition 
    Grade: 12th
    Prerequisite: AP English Language and Composition
    Instructors: Mr. Baggaley at brent.baggaley@houstonisd.org  
    The English Literature & Composition course offers college level work to highly skilled and motivated seniors and prepares them for the AP Literature and Composition Test which are administered in May. Students in this course will read advanced literature from all genres and periods of literature, discuss the reading in depth, and evaluate those readings in composition assignments that require critical analysis using types of literary criticism. In addition, students will study advanced vocabulary. Because students in this class qualify for additional grade points, a superior level of performance and motivation is expected.  
     
     
    MATHEMATICS COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

     

    Pre-AP Algebra I
    Grade: 9th
    Prerequisite: 
    Instructor: Ms. Diakhate 
    Pre-AP Algebra I is course designed to stress the theory of exponents and functions, properties of the real and quadratic equations and functions, properties of the real and complex number systems, the use of coordinate geometry, application of exponential and logarithmic function, study of polynomials and properties of sequences and series. Because the students will qualify for additional grade points in the advanced course, a superior level of performance is expected as they are introduced to AP assessments formats and skills.
     
     
    Pre-AP Algebra II 
    Grade: 10th
    Instructor: Mr. Kwan & Mr. Do
    Prerequisite: Pre-AP Algebra I
    This course is designed for students who will advance to pre-calculus and calculus. It covers the same material as Algebra II but with greater emphasis and depth on functional relationships and their graphs. Pre-AP Algebra II lays the foundation for preparing students for the Calculus Advanced Placement Exam. 
     
    Pre-AP Geometry & Statistics 
    Grade: 10th or 11th
    Instructor: Mr. Yadegari
    Pre-AP Geometry with Statistics is designed to provide students with a meaningful conceptual bridge between algebra and geometry to deepen their understanding of mathematics. Students often struggle to see the connections among their mathematics courses. In this course, students are expected to use the mathematical knowledge and skills they have developed previously to problem solve across the domains of algebra, geometry, and statistics. The course includes a unit of statistics and probability to help students build a deeper understanding of essential concepts related to quantitative literacy. 
     
    Pre-Calculus 
    Grade: 11
    Instructors: Mr.Do & Mr. Mohammad
    Prerequisite: Pre AP Algebra II
    This course is designed to prepare students to proceed to Advanced Placement Calculus-BC syllabus. It covers the same material as Pre-Calculus with greater emphasis and depth on elementary functions and their graphs, as well as considering vectors, polar coordinates and limits. 
     
     
    AP Calculus AB
    Grade: 12th
    Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus
    Instructor: Mr. Mohammad at RMOHAMMA@houstonisd.org
    This course is designed for the student with a strong background in college preparatory mathematics that wishes to earn one semester of college credit in calculus. All students will take the AP examination. Topics include analysis in function, graphs, limits, derivatives, and integrals. Applications for each of these topics will be explored. 
     
    AP Calculus BC
    Grade: 12th
    Prerequisite: AP Calculus AB
    Instructor: Mr. Mohammad at RMOHAMMA@houstonisd.org
    AP Calculus BC is an introductory college-level calculus course. Students cultivate their understanding of differential and integral calculus through engaging with real-world problems represented graphically, numerically, analytically, and verbally and using definitions and theorems to build arguments and justify conclusions as they explore concepts like change, limits, and the analysis of functions.
     
     
    SCIENCE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
     
    Pre-AP Biology I
    Grade: 9th
    Prerequisite: Teacher or Administrative Recommendation or Parent/Student Request
    Instructors: Mr. Holle & Ms. Bashyam
    The Biology – Pre-AP course is designed to improve process skills in biology with emphasis in current topics. In-depth lab experiments and detailed reporting of observations of integral parts of the course. 
     
     
    Pre- AP Chemistry 
    Grade: 10th
    Prerequisite: Pre-AP Biology I
    Instructors: Ms. Ghodrati
    Pre-AP Chemistry is designed for college bound students and emphasizes problem solving and experimental design with current chemistry topics.
     
     
    AP Physics I 
    Grade: 11th, 12th
    Prerequisite: Pre-AP Algebra II
    Instructor: Mr. Vachris at GVACHRIS@houstonisd.org
    This is an Algebra-based Physics course. The students will be able to learn the concepts of Physics theory through both conceptual and mathematical means. One goal of this class is to prepare the student for career areas such as Engineering, Medicine, and other areas needing higher math/science applications. A second goal is successful completion of the Advanced Placement examination in May.
     
     
    SOCIAL STUDIES COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
     
    AP Human Geography 
    Grade: 9th
    Prerequisite: Pre-AP English & Pre-AP US History 8th Grade
    Instructor: Mr. Holland & Mr. Garza
    AP Human Geography is a two semester course. The purpose of the AP Human Geography course is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human social organization and environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice. On successful completion of the course, students should have developed skills that enable them to: use and think about maps and spatial data, understand and interpret the implications of associations among phenomena in places, recognize and interpret at different scales, the relationships among patterns and processes, define regions and evaluate the regionalization process, and characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places.
     
     
    AP World History 
    Grade: 10
    Prerequisite: Pre-AP World Geography or AP Human Geography
    Instructor: Mr. Baker at Ryan.Baker@houstonisd.org
    The purpose of the AP World History course is to develop greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts in different types of human societies. This understanding is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. The course highlights the nature of changes in global frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. It emphasizes relevant factual knowledge, leading interpretive issues, and skills in analyzing types of historical evidence. Periodization, explicitly discussed, forms an organizing principle to address change and continuity throughout the course. Specific themes provide further organization to the course, along with consistent attention to contacts among societies that form the core of World History as a field of study.

     

     AP United States History 
    Grade: 11th 
    Prerequisite:  AP World History
    Instructor: Mr. Garza 
    AP U.S. History is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester introductory college or university U.S. history course. In AP U.S. History students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods from approximately 1491 to the present. Students develop and use the same skills, practices, and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; making historical comparisons; utilizing reasoning about contextualization, causation, and continuity and change over time; and developing historical arguments. 
     
    AP Microeconomics
    Grade: 12th
    Prerequisite: AP US History 
    Instructor: Dr. Lee at Emily.Lee@houstonisd.org
    AP Microeconomics is an introductory college-level microeconomics course. Students cultivate their understanding of the principles that apply to the functions of individual economic decision-makers by using principles and models to describe economic situations and predict and explain outcomes with graphs, charts, and data as they explore concepts like scarcity and markets; costs, benefits, and marginal analysis; production choices and behavior; and market inefficiency and public policy.
      
    AP U.S. Government and Politics 
    Grade: 12th
    Prerequisite: AP US History
    Instructor:  Ms. Caress
    This is a single semester course that can be taken in the fall or spring semester. The course is designed to give students a critical perspective on government and politics in the United States. This course involves both the study of general concept used to interpret American politics and the analysis of specific case studies. It also requires familiarity with the various institutions, groups, beliefs, and ideas that make up the American political reality. Students will take the AP Government and Politics exam for an opportunity to receive college credit. 
     
     
    FOREIGN LANGUAGE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
     
    AP Spanish Language and Culture
    Grade: 9th -12th Depending on student’s language skills
    Prerequisite: Students must have completed Spanish I & Spanish II or be a Native Speaking Spanish Student enrolled currently or previously in Spanish for Native Speakers
    Instructors:  Mr. Illa at EILLA@houstonisd.org , Mr. Sanchez at Rudy.Sanchez@houstonisd.org, & Ms. Barrera
    The AP Spanish Language and Culture course emphasizes the use of Spanish for active communication in real life tasks, it focuses on developing your abilities in the three modes of communication (interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational) and strengthening your cultural competencies through theme-based instruction based on a variety of authentic resources, such as: newspapers, magazines, podcasts, blogs, advertisements, television programs, films, music, video clips, and literature.