Han Nguyen

The upcoming 2026-2027 school year is fast approaching, with changes in class offerings at Kennedy. It was decided to eliminate AP Spanish and AP French as electives as of next year, but they will still be offered through Kirkwood Community College. 

AP languages are top-placement classes students can take after completing the three-year language classes, but will no longer be offered through Kennedy as of next year due to low enrollment.

At the end of the year in AP Spanish, students can register to take the AP test. They are graded on a national scale from 1 to 5, and anyone who scores a 3 or above may receive college credit depending on what they score and the college that they attend. 

“Some students don’t take AP Spanish; they wait to get to their colleges, and then they take a placement test, and that helps them,” Spanish 1 and AP Spanish teacher Lorena Harger said. “Some students take the [AP] test, but it’s hard to get a four or a five… some universities or colleges, they only take 4s or 5s. Some take 3, but mostly 4 or five. So it’s a tough test.”

Harger has 29 students enrolled in her AP Spanish course, but only 13 have registered for the AP exam. That created the domino effect that dictated the decision to remove the course from Kennedy. 

Along with low enrollment, most students, as found by teachers, would not thrive in an AP language environment because of the course style and difficulty. 

“It’s very difficult to teach an AP class,” French teacher Benedicte Corbette said. “I have maybe one student in this [French 3] class who would be able to, because of their own personal level in French, to tackle it.”

The elimination of the class will not affect future students, as the AP options will still be offered through Kirkwood Community College. Instead of just offering potential college credit, this option guarantees college credit with a passing grade.

“It’s more guaranteed to get college credit with the Kirkwood class than it is with AP class, because of the way that it is offered through the college,” Corbette said.