SHS Selected for AP Capstone Diploma Program

Starting next year, Scituate High School will proudly offer the AP Capstone Diploma Program. This exclusive program helps students enhance their development of higher level college and career readiness skills; specifically critical thinking, research, collaboration, and communication. The program includes two new AP courses taken in sequence through the Social Studies department: AP Seminar and AP Research. SHS will offer AP Seminar to all students in grades 9-12 starting in the fall of 2024 and AP Research will follow in the 2025-2026 school year.

The AP Capstone Diploma signifies outstanding academic achievement and attainment of college level academic and research skills. In order to qualify for this honor, students need to score a 3 or higher in both AP Seminar and AP Research and on four additional AP exams of their choosing. Students who score a 3 or higher in both AP Seminar and AP Research (and not on 4 additional AP exams) earn the AP Seminar and Research Certificate.

Bill Burkhead, Superintendent of Scituate Public Schools remarked, “Being selected to offer the AP Capstone Diploma Program is an amazing opportunity for Scituate High School. This is another step in our district’s mission to provide every student with high quality and inclusive learning experiences that enhance their academic achievement.”

“Colleges and employers expect students to be able to consume information, develop their own ideas and then clearly communicate those ideas with others” said SHS Principal, Marc Loranger. “The AP Capstone program offers students the opportunity to fully develop these critical skills in order to achieve great things both at SHS and beyond.”

In AP Seminar students choose real-world topics, evaluate them from multiple perspectives and develop strong written and oral arguments. In the AP Research course, students will design and execute a college-level research project on a topic of personal interest. 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 exam.

“This is great news for our current eighth grade students,” noted Gates Middle School Principal, Ryan Beattie. “The AP Capstone program offers them access to Advanced Placement coursework, right from the start of high school. Many of our students are ready for that level of rigor and AP Seminar will be a great fit for them.”