MORGANTOWN – Monongalia County students taking Advanced Placement courses are once again going to the head of the class, the district reports.
“This is where we can really celebrate the data,” as Deputy Superintendent Donna Talerico is wont to say. “And we just keep getting better.”
Mon’s students in the 2025-26 academic year boasted 84% passing rate for AP exams.
It was 83% this time last year.
That’s also compared to the global passing rate of 73%, according to the data.
And 182 of those local students were perfect, pulling down a 5 on their exams, which are graded on a scale of 1-5.
The numbers are the cumulative result of AP from last year’s term to the present.
A total 375 students here achieved “AP Scholar” status – meaning they scored a 3 or higher on at least 3 exams. That’s 58 more than last year.
Mon Schools, meanwhile, boasts 32 courses in English, math, science, social studies, world languages and fine arts.
The offerings are the result of the generosity of county voters on Election Day – who traditionally say yes to an excess levy for education which contributes more than $30 million a year to district coffers.
Students in Mon’s elementary schools can take courses in beginning Mandarin, for example, related to the above.
There are 46 teachers in the district qualified to teach such courses, she said.
Meanwhile, Advanced Placement courses matter, academic-watchers say, because academic rigor matters – for those students who do want to continue pursuing academics after high school.
AP courses shore up transcripts, they say, while showing admissions officers that a senior about to become a freshman is capable of doing college-level work.
There’s also the weight of the course – even if the score isn’t perfect, those watchers add.
Pulling down a “B” in an AP course is often an “A” in any other class, they say.
