For the first time in the history of NAI, a sophomore is taking AP US History, a course usually reserved for juniors instead of the typical social studies curriculum. This raises questions about the future of the offered APUSH course, and if NA students will finally be able to accelerate in Social Studies.

The ability to take this course before junior year at North Allegheny has never before been granted. This extremely unique opportunity stemmed from an astounding performance at an early age when an 8th grader completed AP Human Geography, the typical AP social studies course offered to sophomores, through self study. That 8th grader then went on to score a 5 on the AP Human Geography exam, the highest score available.

The student reports that they had no earlier intention of taking this AP course a year earlier than standard, and that they initially took the test for fun: “When I took the HUG test, I didn’t have a set goal in mind–it just sounded like a really neat opportunity.”

After taking this test and reviewing their score, they made the decision to appeal to the school board to take AP US History a year early: When I got my score back, I began to think about what it meant in terms of potential future courses. There was very little to gain from taking a class when I had already demonstrated thorough understanding of the course material.”’

The sophomore’s decision represents a groundbreaking change in the way NA has run its curriculum–APUSH was never before available to sophomores, and it remains unclear whether this door will ever be opened again. 

When asked about their thoughts on future students following their path, the interviewed student said they were unsure on the future of acceleration through social studies courses, but they had hopes for later opportunities in the same area: “To be honest, I have no clue what future accelerations will look like. I hope there will be more opportunities to accelerate through humanities courses.”

Brand-new opportunities always lead to rough patches, but the sophomore is currently enjoying APUSH regardless. They have no regrets in taking the course, saying that they have been managing the workload and enjoy class periods, and only show concern for the exam at the end of the year: “I guess the only thing I’m a tad concerned about is the AP test, but what AP student isn’t a little worried about the test? I think it’s a pretty shared experience.”

They also said that given the chance, they would not opt out of the course, sharing that they found class content to be extremely interesting and entertaining. 

When asked, the student had no strong opinions on recommending other students to take the course early, were the option to be regularly provided, saying, “It depends on a couple of factors. If your schedule is already packed, then maybe taking APUSH isn’t the best option for you. Skills in humanities courses build from one year to the next, so you should have a really good understanding of what you’re expected to know prior to entering the course.”

This change in school tradition leads to a lot of curiosity, and speculation about the future of acceleration in humanities courses. In following years, hundreds of NA students may be able to follow the footsteps of this first trailblazer, but for now, the future of APUSH age requirements remain a mystery.