Rio Rancho Public Schools reports sharp rise in AP participation and new course offerings

Dr. Stephanie Belmore, the district’s executive director for secondary instruction and AP efforts, told the school board Monday that Rio Rancho Public Schools has re‑established advanced placement as a priority and is expanding both course offerings and teacher supports.

Belmore said the district currently offers 30 AP courses and plans to add AP African American Studies, AP Cybersecurity and AP Personal Finance in the fall. She described a push to strengthen pre‑AP offerings at the middle‑school level and to provide summer institutes and College Board professional learning so teachers are prepared to deliver AP content.

On testing and participation, Belmore provided numbers the district had just submitted: 2,064 ordered AP exams across the district this year, up from 1,367 last year, and roughly 3,000 AP course enrollments counting students who take multiple AP classes. Site‑level counts provided in the presentation were 1,168 exams ordered at Rio Rancho High School, 863 at Cleveland High School and 33 at the Rio Rancho Cyber Academy. "That means we have more kids enrolled," she told trustees.

Belmore and board members emphasized access: the district offers fee waivers, scholarships and state subsidies to reduce exam costs (the exam list price cited by staff was about $100). She said the district is also increasing the number of AP teachers who serve as exam readers — an experience Belmore called “the best professional learning experience.”

The board asked practical questions about staffing and scheduling constraints; staff said limited teacher availability and the difficulty of offering singleton sections remain the major limits to adding courses. Staff also described plans to host two weeks of AP summer training at Rio Rancho High School and to continue quarterly AP PLCs for teacher collaboration.

No separate board action accompanied the AP report; staff said they will return with implementation updates and any budget adjustments tied to course expansion and professional learning.