By Kyle Roberts
Following the positive report of LEAP scores released earlier this month for Lincoln Parish*, three local schools can now celebrate over 300 students parish-wide that made qualifying scores (3 or better) on their Advanced Placement exams in 2025, all earning college credit for their efforts.
In the Lincoln Parish School District, both Ruston High School and Choudrant High School had a combined 265 students earn their qualifying scores. Cedar Creek, a private school, added 79 to the total for the parish.
“Advanced Placement is not to measure whether a kid is on grade level but, rather, if they are doing college-level work while still in high school,” Lincoln Parish School District Chief Academic Officer Emily Howell said. “What’s even more amazing is that some of these are ninth graders. We have students at Choudrant High and Ruston High taking environmental science as ninth graders. Students can take human geography as tenth graders — it’s not only seniors taking these exams.”
At Ruston High, four AP Classes — Biology, Calculus BC, English Literature and Statistics — all had 100 percent qualifying rates.
“This is a direct result of how hard our teachers and students work here,” Ruston High AP Coordinator and Junior Guidance Counselor Diana Humphries said. “Everyone works so hard. They set goals, and they achieve those goals. I’m just so proud of our teachers and students.”
Kari McGuire teaches social studies at Choudrant High School and spoke about how proud she is of the kids she taught this year in her tenth-grade AP Human Geography class. McGuire reported that 15 of her 18 students made qualifying scores on the test.
“Just taking these courses shows that these kids want to be challenged,” McGuire said. “We can’t lower our expectations as teachers because (Advanced Placement has) such rigorous standards. And these kids blew it out of the water.”
Ashlee Bell teaches AP English Literature for Ruston High School and echoed McGuire’s statement about her students. This past year was the second in a row that Bell had 100 percent of her students earn the qualifying score in her class.
“It really speaks to the kid of system coherence we have here (in Lincoln Parish),” Bell said. “We start Pre-AP or a sort of honors variation as early as sixth grade. And we push to enroll as many students in the program as possible so that they’re getting those foundational skills they need well before 11th and 12th grade.”
At Cedar Creek, Assistant Principal and AP English Instructor Leeann Bordelon talked about the positive effects advanced placement has on both students and teachers, citing that instructors work with the College Board and attend an AP Summer Institute.
“The rigorous standards and support offered by the College Board benefit not only students, but AP faculty as well,” Bordelon said. “I have more than 20 years’ experience in secondary education, and becoming an AP instructor (English Literature and Language) has elevated and enriched my own teaching. I am proud of Cedar Creek’s AP program and for our outstanding students who continually challenge themselves with these rigorous courses. We’re continually adjusting our instruction to make sure that we are giving our students the breadth of writing and reading experience that they need to sort of excel nationally with these nationally normed tests.”
Ruston High offers the following AP classes: Biology, Calculus AB and BC, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, Human Geography, Statistics, and US History (Choudrant High offers both Environmental Science and Human Geography, as well).
Depending on student interest, Cedar Creek can offer the following AP classes: English Language and Composition, Calculus AB, Chemistry, Biology, Physics 1, Environmental Science, Psychology, Human Geography, U.S. Government and Politics, U.S. History, French Language and Culture, Spanish Language and Culture, Art History, Art and Design (2-D, 3-D, Drawing) and Computer Science A.
AP enrollment has been implemented in high schools since 1956, meaning this is the 70th year for students. After the class is over, the students will take and exam to determine if they will earn college credit for their efforts, requiring a score of three to qualify. Despite not all students earning the qualifying score, a June 2021 study suggests that students who make a one or two on their AP exams are predicted to still be successful in college.
*Note: Cedar Creek students are not required to take the LEAP exam.
