RUMFORD — Mountain Valley High School Principal Matt Gilbert kicked off a school assembly with a thank you to the students for their work in living up to expectations around being safe, responsible, respectful and involved. He noted the growth he had seen over the last five months.

“On top of the behavior expectations, I would like you to raise the bar academically,” Gilbert continued. “I hope that you will push yourself to achieve more in the second semester. You now know what your teachers expect so I challenge you to get more out of the second half of the year academically.”

Gilbert then called juniors to the stage who scored a three or higher on the Advanced Placement exams during the previous May. The AP exams are graded on a score of one to five. Often colleges give credit for scores of three or higher. The students included Garrett Carver, U.S. history and English language and composition; Chelsea Deroehn, English language and composition; Jeremie Detellis, U.S. history; Alexa Fryover, U.S. history and English language and composition; Victoria Giberson, U.S. history and English language and composition; Adriana Gorham, U.S. history and English language and composition; Sean Murphy, U.S. history; Jonathan Petrie, U.S. history and English language and composition; and Vanessa Swett, U.S. history and English language and composition.

Gilbert said, “This represents 15 college classes completed while you’re still enrolled in high school. Your parents will appreciate not having to pay for those credits when you get to your selected college.”

James Aylward teaches AP English language and composition and Chris Carver teaches AP U.S. history. Additional AP teachers include Meg Doughty, English literature and composition; and Lisa Russell, calculus.

Students at MVHS may select from a wide range of AP courses including English language and composition, English literature and composition, U.S. history, European history, calculus, biology and physics.