The “H” Word

Next year, CB is planning on expanding the amount of honors classes offered and the Talon is here to clean up the rumors and myths of the big change.

Next year changing to our accelerated classes will be made in order to make them honors classes. This means grade bumps, new class titles, and new challenges for students.

CB’s dedicated college counselor, Ms. Melissa McClellan has been at the forefront of this change.

A lot of people are wondering where this change is coming from and it is happening now.

“In the past, the UCs would not bump or except any grade bumps, but they’ve decided to change that this year,” Ms. McClellan explains.

Being the outstanding college prep school CB is, it’s important to keep up with the changes in college curriculums and college admissions standards.

As college admission standards progress, CB continues to grow as well.

But here’s the thing: a lot of students challenge themselves by taking accelerated classes and sometimes the “h” word can be a little daunting. So how different are accelerated and honors classes?

“Accelerated is an internal term,” says the college wiz Ms. McClellan. “The UCs do not differentiate between accelerated and college prep when in fact it is a more challenging class”

So with the change in names and standards here at CB, the UCs will now be able to see that students are challenging themselves and taking advantage of all the demands a student can manage.

Another myth that has been floating around is that this change will result in ALL classes which had formally been known as accelerated becoming honors. This is false.

“The only accelerated classes that are going to become honors classes would really only apply to sophomores, so classes like Accelerated Literature and Accelerated Biology would become honors class [with UC approved grade bumps],” explains Mrs. McClellan.

So sophomores would mainly be the students benefiting from this change, but the reason behind this shift has everyone’s best interest in mind.

“The decision was made because CB students are being evaluated against other schools who offer those classes,” says Ms. McClellan.

“We want to give our students the best chance of getting admitted to the UCs and CSUs by making our classes comparable to other schools,” she adds.

With grade bumps and more challenging courses CB students can only look even better on paper when applying to colleges.

“I think its awesome! Let them have their grade bumps,” says the spunky Mrs. Nicole Brousseau.

The biology instructor is not only a grade bump enthusiast, but also the teacher of Accelerated Biology, which is a class set for the change.

Onward and upward, CB continues to grow and change with the times.