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College Credit and Honors Program

St. Joseph’s Academy offers the opportunity for students to take courses for honors credit, college credit, and/or to prepare for the Advanced Placement exam. The terms ACC (Advanced College Credit), ACP (Advanced College Program), CC (College Credit), and AP (Advanced Placement) are used to designate these options. ACC, ACP, and CC courses at St. Joseph’s Academy are offered through the Saint Louis University 1818 ACC Program, the University of Missouri-St. Louis ACP program, and the College Credit program at the University of Iowa. The AP courses prepare students for the AP exams that are sponsored by the College Board.

Courses are classified as regular or weighted. Honors, ACC, ACP, AP, and CC courses are weighted. All honors, ACC, ACP, AP, and CC classes are more challenging and carry an additional GPA weight of 0.5. A student’s course load is based on her talents and ability to handle the challenges she faces. These courses are taught at a more rigorous level and require more from the student. The following are expected of all St. Joseph’s Academy students, but to be successful in college credit and honors courses, students must demonstrate:

  • the ability to work independently,
  • a strong work ethic,
  • a greater time commitment to the course material outside of class time,
  • higher-order thinking skills reflected in writing, speaking, and reading comprehension, and
  • higher levels of class discussion.

AP/ACC or AP/ACP classes carry both designations because the student has the opportunity to earn SLU or UMSL college credit directly or through scoring well on the AP exam.

Students at St. Joseph’s Academy are recommended by their teachers in order to take honors, ACC, ACP, or AP courses. Criteria for recommendations are determined and communicated to students by the teachers in each department.

honors

Honors courses are more challenging high school courses with greater expectations; they carry extra GPA weight, but they do not carry any college credit or potential for college credit.
 

acc/acp/CC

ACP, ACC, and CC courses carry extra GPA weight, and can provide college credit. An additional fee is required to be paid to the sponsoring university to receive college credit. 
 

advanced placement 

Advanced Placement (AP) courses are more challenging, as they are taught using the College Board’s Curriculum. Students should expect significant additional preparation outside of the course meeting time.