Morris Knolls High School offers a plethora of classes to its students, ranging from Philosophy to Music Appreciation to Personal Finance. This encourages students to take classes of all levels so that each student can feel accordingly challenged. The variety of classes also helps students customise their high school experience, with students taking classes for enjoyment, in order to learn something new, and of course, tailoring their classes to impress colleges or fit their expected future major.

Of course, many students will just take the classes that fulfill their graduation requirements. One of these requirements is completing three years of science, and since biology and chemistry are taken by a majority of students in freshman and sophomore years, the only major branch of science left is physics. This makes physics a popular subject, but the problem is that Morris Knolls does not offer physics as an honors class. It is solely offered as an AP, which is problematic because honors offers an “in-between” so that ambitious students are not forced to take a CPA class to avoid a difficult AP class. 

Physics 1 is rated as one of the most challenging AP classes, especially for students who are new to AP classes and are instantly advancing from honors to AP. Honors teachers often encourage their students to join AP Physics 1, and a lot of these students will be unprepared, especially since physics is typically regarded as the most difficult major branch of science. Also, Morris Knolls already offers honors math classes for all levels (from Algebra 1 to Calculus), and since physics is a math-heavy subject, there should be an honors Physics 1.

However, AP Physics 2 should remain as an AP because people usually take it after Physics 1, and they can choose if they want to continue physics and go up a level. 

We asked AP Physics 1 students if they believe that Physics 1 Honors should be an option, and their responses are stated below:

“I’m not sure what pace CPA goes at, but AP Physics is not that fast in my opinion. For me, AP is fine, and it’s good for credits. CPA might be too slow for some, and AP Physics too fast, so I think if one were offered, there would definitely be enough people in it. I think having the choice to do honors would be good.” Anonymous, AP Physics 1.

“I think so because I’m pretty sure there’s only a CPA physics class and then an AP Physics class, so I feel like an in-between would be good ‘cause CPA is easier, I’ve seen the tests for it. [CPA is] not that bad, it’s manageable, and then… AP Physics is super hard. I feel like if you don’t understand, you miss a bunch, and then like the AP exam too, it’s like so much to study, and it’s challenging. So an honors [class] would be a good in between for students.” -Tanisha Sharma, sophomore in AP Physics 1

This goes to show that an Honors Physics 1 class would be beneficial for a distinguishable group of students in Morris Knolls High School.