Elmhurst District 205 Budget Cuts Have Not Kept York Students From Reaching High Academic Levels

In spite of millions of dollars in annual budget cuts over the past few years in Elmhurst Unit District 205, York High School students continue to shine academically.

At Tuesday's School Board meeting, York's Assistant Principal for Curriculum and Instruction Chris Covino recognized 12 York students, most of whom have graduated, for achieving National AP Scholar status in the College Board's Advanced Placement program. Covino said it is one of the most prestigious recognitions bestowed on high school students, and rarely are so many National AP Scholars found at one school.

This year, three times as many York students were recognized as last year, he said.

Students take the rigorous, college-level advanced placement (AP) courses with the hope of receiving college credit while still in high school. In May, 670 York students took AP tests, 89.7 percent received a score of 3 or above, and 605 students earned college credit, advanced placement or both.

National AP Scholars receive this top recognition by earning an average grade of 4 or higher (on a 5-point scale) on all advanced placement tests they've taken, and grades of 4 or higher on at least eight exams. National AP Scholars represent the top 1 percent of all students nationwide who took AP tests.

Hari Sreedhar was the only student who was able to attend the board recognition Tuesday night, and his achievement was the highest among the 12. Sreedhar took 15 AP tests while at York and he scored a perfect 5 on all 15.

In addition to Sreedhar, the following students also earned National AP Scholar status:

• Francesco Bertucci took eight tests and scored 5 on five of them
• Sean Connelly took eight tests and scored 5 on seven
• Joseph Gaudio took nine tests and scored 5 on six
• Georgi Govedarov took 10 tests and scored 5 on four
• Tessa Kroll took eight tests and scored 5 on all eight
• Ryan McDonough took 10 tests and scored 5 on all 10
• Mariam Mirza took 10 tests and scored 5 on eight
• Jacob Ruprecht took 11 tests and scored 5 on nine
• Kira Tebba took eight tests and scored 5 on six
• Chloe Williams took eight tests and scored 5 on four
• Ushasi Naha (Class of 2013) will take 11 tests and so far has scored 5 on six

The College Board also recognizes:

• AP Scholars with Distinction, for students who earn at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on five or more; 67 York students qualified in this category.
• AP Scholars with Honor, for students who earn an average of 3.25 on all AP exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on four or more; 41 York students are in this category.
• AP Scholars, for students who completed 3 or more exams and earned grades of 3 or higher; 82 York students were so honored.

AP Scholars

Class of 2012
Nicholas Bashoawi, Amanda Brain, Michelle Cernauske, Zachary Craggs, Rhiannon Damm, Emily Davelis, Michael Degrace, Alexis Diaz, Kyle Dombeck, Carissa Fidone, Mary Fisher, Michelle Frigo, Anastasia Gliatis, Mirjana Grocia, Chloe Grotto, Zachary Halsey, Patrick Hennessey, Kyle Heraty, Keely Hicks, Megan Holmes, Molly Holmes, Eva Hughes, Andrea James, Alyssa Johnson, Mary Kaleta, Jacob Leoni, Tyler Maricich, Kellagh McFarlane, Kathryn McGirk, Caitlin McManus, Brian McNally, James Mueller, Kelly Nikitas, Rachel Nugent, Mikayla Omalley, Conor Obrien, Megan Obrien, Kathleen Parker, Jessica Richter, Ruth Ronnau, Justin Schwarz, Ravi Shah, Nicholas Sorrentino, Stephanie Speers, Jessica Vilcek, Deane Wagner and Rita Wirth.

Class of 2013
Erica Achepohl, Karen Altergott, Margaret Crotser, Ryan Dangelo, Miranda Deane, Ryan Delaney, Katherine Dickson, Michael Druffel, Evan Fabry, Sara Frankiewicz, Leah Gortowski, Grace Haggard, Laura Hasley, Graham Johnson, Helen Knudsen, Jessica Kosapatti, Haley Kost, Laura Krance, John Libert, Daniel Lindsay, Cara Lopiano, Victoria Madsen, Victoria Maple, Christopher May, David McKay, Madeline Mueller, Anthony Pierotti, Sunni Porps-Hummell, Thomas Rebers, Kailey Slavik, Scott Spoolstra, Andrew Viverito, Linnea Wethekam, Connor Wing and Alexander Zhuang.

AP Scholars With Honors

Class of 2012
Zachary Backas, Faith Bendelow, Jacob Benzin, Nathaniel Best, Melanie Biegler, Jonathan Bogdanowicz, Clayton Curtice, Elisabeth Field, Leo Flynn, Rachel Gentile, Paul Golen, Rebecca Heisler, Peter Hohman, Lauralee Johnson, Trevor Jordan, Isabel Juvan, Mikayla McIntyre, Tara Mitchell, Danielle Morency, Pallavi Mukherji, Kristy Premo, Kelsey Roberts, Garrett Rowe, Caterina Salzano, Connor Schonta, Kayla Spencer, Kailee Sweeney, Dan Alfred Teleron, Michael Trumbull, Carlos Vega, Jacob Wagner and Anthony Xavier.

Class of 2013
Ellen Barry, Jennifer Chapman, Jesse Crowe, Maureen Feeney, Jenna Honeywell, Peter Howland, Bret Obrien, Gabriella Riek and James Simon.

AP Scholars With Distinction

Class of 2012
Francesco Bertucci, Wesley Brower, Kelsey Cadagin, Dana Chamberlin, Fang Chen, Brendan Connelly, Sean Connelly, Scott Corbett, Joselin Cyriac, Sarah Dantino, Elizabeth Diamond, Anthony Digregorio, Thomas Dolan, Ann Fazzio, Katharine Fechner, Nicole Foster, Kari Frantzis, Joseph Gaudio, Kristen Gorecki, Georgi Govedarov, Anmei Hart, Rachel Hennein, John Hennessy, Erik Hoaglund, Caroline Hogan, Maggie Homeier, John Howard, Paige Kaliski, Courtney Klatt, Tessa Kroll, Megan Ladd, Sharise Lund, Evan Mack, Christopher Matsas, Abigail Mazzocco, Ryan McDonough, Tim McDunn, Cathleen McGovern, Mariam Mirza, Jacqueline Nikoleit, Alexandra Nugent, Christina Oconnor, Kelly Oryan, Margaret Patchett, Michael Pettineo, Ruth Picha, Keith Pierzchala, Lucas Rasnic, Genevieve Rizzo, Jacob Ruprecht, Aaron Sebonia, Bryan Serrano, Enas Siddioi, Elisabeth Skiles, Hari Sreedhar, Robert St. John, Marisa Stallmann, Kira Tebbe, Amber Virdi, Chloe Williams and Nathan Wolfe.

Class of 2013
Joseph Frost, Joseph Kleinhans, Justin McDonough, Ushasi Naha, Spencer Wegner and Matthew Wilbur.

York Named to the AP District Honor Roll

Superintendent David Pruneau also pointed out at the board meeting that York has been named to the AP District Honor Roll by the College Board every year since the award's inception three years ago. The Honor Roll recognizes schools for simultaneously increasing access to Advanced Placement course work while increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher AP exams.

"When this started in 2010, we had 886 tests taken on an AP level by 424 students," Pruneau said. "This year, we had 1,239 tests taken by 670 students. When it comes to the goal of college readiness, this is a great indicator of what we're doing and how students are responding to really be ready for college.

"To have that kind of increase in participation—and increased scores at the same time—is really an outstanding achievement."

Blue Ribbon Honorees Also Recognized

These awards come on the heels of two of Elmhurst District 205 school being named National Blue Ribbon Schools. Lincoln Elementary and Bryan Middle School, their principals, parents and students, also were recognized by the board for that achievement.

Only 269 schools in the country and 13 in Illinois were recognized, and two of them are in Elmhurst, Pruneau said.

"I urge everyone to go home and recommend to friends and community members to just watch the first 25 minutes of this meeting," School Board President Jim Collins said. "AP Scholars, Blue Ribbon Schools, it's a culmination of the support our community has for education."

It shows district officials and staff are making "good use of taxpayer resources" to achieve that level of success, Collins said.