Eight students from Villa Madonna Academy have earned Advanced Placement Capstone Diplomas after completing the College Board’s AP Capstone program. This research-intensive course load is designed to prepare students for university-level work.
Two the students, Izzie Ramundo and Brandon Campling, belong to the 2024 graduating class. The remaining students–Rylie Bond, Sophie Cordonnier, Quinn Holtzman, Caitlyn Ingram, Maya Kondik and Isaac Stricker–belong to the class of 2025.
The Capstone Diploma program is a multi-year program through the College Board, the same company that produces both the Advanced Placement, or AP, exams as well as the SAT.
The program charges the students with completing extended research projects on specific topics through the AP Seminar and AP Research programs, which are designed to prepare the students for academic research. The students must then complete at least four other AP subject exams. To receive a Capstone Diploma, they must score at least a 3 in the Seminar and Research courses and the subject exams (courses are scored on a 1 to 5 scale).
The projects help develop the student’s critical thinking, research, public speaking and project management skills.
“Congratulations to the thousands of students who worked so hard to earn AP Capstone Diplomas and AP Seminar and Research Certificates,” said Trevor Packer, head of the Advanced Placement program, in the same release. “These students are creating the pathways for their future academic and professional careers by building highly sought-after skills in project management, presentation, collaboration and research.”
