Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, AP Physics will be split into AP Physics 1 and 2.
AP Physics 1 will be available for juniors and seniors to take without a prerequisite of Honors Physics. According to Head Principal Andrew Neely, current juniors will be unable to take AP Physics 2 next year.
AP Physics teacher Samantha Knepp hopes that this split will attract more students towards physics.
“It’s going to make it way more accessible, because physics is hard,” Knepp said. “Even students that thought that they could handle it a lot of times were getting into it, and they quickly found out that it was a lot of work, and then we had a really high drop rate. So I think by splitting them up we’re going to end up seeing that people are entering into the classroom and not dropping like they were before because the pacing is going to be actually manageable.”
The change to two separate classes will require a change in curriculum.
“I’ll have to put together some more curricular materials,” Knepp said. “Students already come in with a background understanding of physics because they had to have Honors Physics to begin with. Now they’re coming in without any kind of physics background, and so it’s going to take a lot more depth from my end to get them prepared, which then means that I’ll have to create more materials. We’ll have to figure out some more labs that we can do and really figure out how to get more in-depth.”
Teachers believe that this change will provide useful opportunities for STEM-oriented students.
“I think that if anyone is college bound, specifically for AP Physics 1, it’s a good class that counts as a general science credit,” Knepp said. “If you are college bound and in a medical field, then you should definitely consider taking AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 because you’re going to have to take them in college anyway. In terms of any other kind of STEM field, those students should also take these classes because it gives them a better background in physics.”
“I think it’s gonna be great for kids who are physics minded, who are engineering track, maybe med school track,” Science Department Head Jessica Hogan said. “I think it’s going to be great for them because I think it’s going to give them an opportunity to really soak up the Physics 1 stuff without as much pressure of having to do it in half a year.”
Senior Sheima Mohamednour believes that having two AP Physics classes will benefit students.
“I think it’s going to be amazing for a lot of students,” Mohamednour said. “Because personally, I think it’s a little bit harder to take them together because we don’t have enough time to do a lot of stuff, or maybe have more labs and learn more about the class. But if students have this chance, they should take it.”
