As CHS students began selecting class courses for the upcoming school year, incoming AP Calculus students noticed major changes in this class from the predeceased curriculum.

With the start of the 2023-2024 school year, AP Calculus AB will be taught every day, differing from past years when the class was taught every other day. In addition to this change, rising seniors who choose to take the class for their senior year math course will only be allowed to take two electives instead of three.

According to AP Calculus teacher, Justine Lane the class being taught every day is not something new.

“The teacher before me taught it every day all year long and it was a mix of seniors and juniors,” Lane said. “In my second year of teaching, I began to teach it every other day.”

The MCVSD decided for CHS to recede to this learning format due to a decrease in scores as well as differences in scheduling and class credits when compared to other vocational schools.

According to guidance counselor Sandra Gidos, CHS was the only school in the MCVSD that had AP Calculus being taught every other day and worth five credits.

“We were the only school having AP only being five credits as opposed to ten credits,” Gidos said. “So that means our students were at a disadvantage of having half the seat time in comparison to the other students.”

At High Technology High School, both AP Calculus BC and AB are taught four days a week for an hour long. High Tech junior Angie Garcia-Lopez of Long Branch takes AP Calculus BC and finds that the way the classes are scheduled helps with learning.

“I think it is beneficial, AP Calculus BC has a bunch of topics so you need a good amount of time to cover it all,” Garcia-Lopez said. “The scheduling also helps so that kids aren’t overloaded with homework each night.”

Fifty-five percent of juniors from a survey of eleven reported that the changes in the AP Calculus schedule did not impact their senior class selection.

Despite the schedule change potentially helping students achieve higher test scores, some students believe that it hampers their ability to pursue their passions and the classes that CHS offers. Junior Lydia Olivieri of Colts Neck plans on taking AP Calculus next year, however, still does not agree with the change.

“I am taking AP Calculus because it is the only AP offered and I’m looking for a more rigorous courseload for colleges,” Olivieri said. “Having one of our elective spots taken away is very limiting, especially since this is a school that prides itself on the opportunities it can provide to its students.”

Though students are continuing to enroll in the class, this change has caused some of their classmates to choose a different math course entirely.

Junior Kelly Meehan of Wall was debating enrolling in AP Calculus, but the altered syllabus strengthened her decision to not take the class.

“The change solidifies my choice because I was contemplating taking it, but now I don’t think I could handle a full year of it,” Meehan said.

Despite the change causing some students to opt out of the class, “there hasn’t been a major change in the amount of students who have enrolled,” according to Gidos.

Students currently taking the class are uncertain about the change, but believe the change will truly help students.

Senior and AP Calculus student Lucy Battista of Tinton Falls believes that the schedule will assist students, but wouldn’t recommend it to ‘math-haters.’

“I feel bad for next year’s AP Calc students because if you aren’t the biggest math fan then it will definitely affect you,” Battista said. “However, I do think it will help l,kids with the class and do better on the exam because it will be a lot slower pace.”

The current change to AP Calculus will continue for at least the upcoming 2023-2024 school year, although unpredictability remains for the years to come.

“I think they will have a more normal class schedule,” Gidos said.