Middle school, here they come

The number of Advanced Placement courses offered in the city’s public high schools continues to grow.

As students return to the halls and classrooms of Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern high schools, they’ll find there are four more AP courses awaiting their arrival this school year.

The four new AP courses— English Language and Composition, Environmental Science, Calculus BC, and Psychology-are part of a commitment the Board of Education made three years ago to make the curriculum more rigorous and strengthen the board’s mission of preparing students for success in college.

“We are committed to improving the rigor of our overall program and providing maximum opportunities for kids to be ready for college,” said Superintendent of Schools Philip Streifer. “The number one way to do that is to have the maximum number of AP opportunities for kids to take.”

AP courses are collegelevel courses administered to high school students. Students who take these courses also can take a final exam in the courses that, depending on their score, could earn them college credit.

Streifer described AP courses as the most rigorous capstone courses a high school student can take. He said a large school district, like Bristol, should have as many opportunities for students to take AP courses as possible.

“That’s why we embarked on this road three years ago and why we’re expanding courses,” said Streifer.

Three years ago, the district offered 11 AP courses in all. Now, 17 AP courses are offered.

Along with the four new courses added this school year, AP Statistics, and AP World History were added last school year.

As the number of courses has grown, so too has the number of students taking them.

According to figures supplied by the board, 665 high school students were enrolled in AP courses last school year. This school year, 1,111 students are signed up. The majority of the increase is due to the addition of AP Psychology,

See COURSES, page 4

In April 2009, local author Lynda Russell began planning ahead. The Plainville business woman and Bristol resident knew her hometown would be celebrating its 225th anniversary this year. And she wanted a new book that would tie into that celebration. Russell, who already was the author of “Bristol Historic Homes,” Plainville” and “Lake Compounce,” knew why she wanted to do another book.

She just wasn’t sure what that book would be. The latest headlines from Bristol, however, provided her with the spark she needed to give her direction. And the result is her latest effort, “Bristol Business and Industry.”

Bristol’s downtown revitalization recently began to shift into high gear when the city selected Renaissance Downtowns as its preferred developer to begin filling the empty lot that used to be the old Bristol Centre Mall.

Russell, who has owned The Window Shop in Plainville with her husband Chet for 33 years, said previous her books touched upon the people behind the businesses. She thought the time was right to focus on the businesses themselves And with the downtown of Bristol at the precipice of change, said Russell, she began to think about the businesses that used to be there before the mall and urban redevelopment changed the landscape of the city. She also thought it might be nice to write about not just about the businesses, but how they got started. And in some cases, she would write about what happened to them and why they are no longer part of the city industrial scene.

As she researched, Russell, who is an active member of the Plainville Chamber of Commerce, benefited from the volume of businesses and industries in Bristol. It’s something, she said, that the city itself was fortunate to have,

See AUTHOR, page 4