Sarah Chen

An increasing number of underclassmen are finding themselves in higher level math courses at PV.

PV is known for its rigorous courses and challenging workloads. However, in recent years, many students have challenged the school’s predefined paths. Now, an increasing number of students are making the decision to take a more accelerated path. 

Spring of last school year, it was reported that 25 students were requesting to make a jump in PV’s math track by skipping Pre-calculus and instead taking it over the summer at Scott Community College. This jump would allow them to enroll in either AP Calculus or Calculus 1 during their sophomore or junior year.  

Many staff members have noticed this new wave of requests. PVHS Counselor Leslie Spiller has been one to observe this change. “In my prior years there were a couple of students, but it mainly started happening last year,” she said. 

Spiller associates this shift with one particular reason. “The district talks to each other a lot, and there was one freshman who accelerated and everyone felt like they had to do the same thing. I think their thought process was ‘He’s doing that and I need to do that too,’” Spiller continued. Upon looking into the students’ motivations for this change, many were wary if students had a genuine motive for academic advancement. 

With this change also comes course load and scheduling concerns. Counselors and teachers have worries about whether courses taken at Scott Community College will adequately prepare students when they return to the highschool curriculum. Spiller explained, “They’re not learning our math to get ready for higher level math. Most of it’s online school, which won’t match the rigor of their preceding classes.”

Counselors theorize that the rapid transition back and forth between curriculums will lead to overall lower success rates. For this main reason, students have been deterred from making these advancements so soon in their academic careers. 

The other point in concern is scheduling. Trying to fit in required courses along with classes outside of the district often leads to scheduling conflicts counselors have realized.  “Once the students run out of our math, they have to go look for other courses outside of the high school and that won’t work with our schedule,” Spiller continued. 

While counselors express unease, students share differing sentiments about these changes. Some described difficulty and frustration with the acceleration process, feeling like they were being discouraged from taking the courses that would challenge them. Sophomore Ameya Menon recounted the process going into this school year. “Although I find it helpful when my teachers warn me about harder classes, taking pre-calc was my own decision and I feel that as long as I am aware of the challenge, I shouldn’t be restricted from giving it a try,” Menon stated.

Like many of her peers, Menon felt as though the pushback she received had negative effects. As the counselors pushback came off as restrictie to many, students began to question if counselors really had the students best interests heart. “Making the process of skipping difficult can cause students to never work to their full potential and in some cases. It can limit them from being able to take classes they are passionate about taking,” Menon said. 

The impact of these students on younger grades has not gone unnoticed. Spiller recalled an influx of requests and emails from the incoming freshmen this year. “Our incoming 9th graders (Class of 2026) were emailing us about how to get ahead. We think we will continue to get asked more and more each year”. 

Each year that goes by will bring new students with greater academic ambition seeking new challenges. As a district committed to excellence, PV is working to accommodate the needs of its increasingly academically driven student body.