Academics
Plano operates on an 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. schedule, which includes eight periods and a break for off-campus lunch during which all students may leave campus to eat lunch, provided the student's parents sign a permission form upon registering the student. Although there are eight available periods, students may only take a maximum of seven unless special permission is given.
Plano offers 31 Advanced Placement courses, which is all of the 34 courses possible with the exception of Latin Literature, Italian Language and Culture, and Japanese Language and Culture. Yearly, the school administers more Advanced Placement tests than any other school west of the Mississippi River, and the second most tests in the United States (2,237 total exams in the year 2005). The school also offers many vocational courses, as was Superintendent Hendrick's intent when it was built. Plano currently offers vocational courses including those in agriculture, family and consumer science, journalism, fashion design, advertising design, drafting, automotive technology, automotive paint and body, clinical rotation, and criminal justice.
In the 2007 graduating class, 97% of graduates went onto college or university: 80% went on to four-year universities, while 17% went to two-year colleges. Students in the class achieved an average composite SAT score of 1163 out of 1600 and a mean composite ACT score of 24.7 out of 36. Many Plano students received National Merit Scholarship accolades in the 2007 school year, including 46 finalists, 54 semi-finalists, and 62 commended students. These individual class statistics are indicative of previous years' performances.
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Famous quotes containing the word academics:
“Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with a vested interest in stressing only some of the implications and falsifying others. The idea that academics should remain “above the fray” only gives ideologues license to misuse our work.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)
“Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)