Originally published in print in November 2025. View print issues here.

Branham offers 19 Advanced Placement (AP) and five honors courses, a significantly lower amount than other schools like Palo Alto High School, which offers 26 AP and 31 honors courses. The number of advanced classes should be increased to enhance the CUHSD’s range of curriculum.

According to the 2025-2026 CUHSD course catalog, English 2 Honors, Computer Programming JAVA, Data Structures & Algorithms, Software Engineering and Korean 4 Honors are the honors courses that Branham currently offers. Additionally, other schools in CUHSD — including Westmont, Prospect and Leigh — also have a limited array of honors courses, with Westmont offering 4 honors courses and Prospect and Leigh each offering six honors courses. 

Honors courses are a bridge between an on-level class and a college course and can help prepare students for AP courses. Students going straight from an on-level class to an AP or college course may struggle without honor classes as a transition. Offering more honors classes would help students build stronger study habits, critical thinking skills and confidence before transitioning into harder, faster-paced courses.

According to the Center for Studies in Higher Education, the limited availability of honors courses not only affects students’ immediate academic experiences but also causes implications for college admissions. This makes it harder for students to stand out among peers from schools with more opportunities as colleges are looking for students who challenge themselves.

This gap in academic opportunities extends beyond honors courses and into AP offerings, as the district’s limited selection of AP classes further resists students’ academic development. 

Branham offers fewer than half of the College Board’s 41 AP classes. According to a study describing limiting factors of on-level courses by the University of California, Berkeley, gaps in understanding, uninspired teachers and restricted learning opportunities can later impact students’ abilities to challenge themselves to a further level and cause academic gaps in their education when they advance to college. 

Within CUHSD, Westmont offers 20 AP courses, Prospect offers 19 AP courses, and Leigh offers 21 AP courses — similar ranges that represent only a fraction of the APs available. Increasing AP options across the district would promote greater academic equity, ensuring that all students have access to advanced learning opportunities regardless of their school.

According to the National Society of High School Scholars, preparing for college is one of the most important parts of high school; it is what the district prepares students for. However, according to Branham’s mission statement, the school aims to develop students’ confidence levels and prepare them for their future, even if it’s not college. AP courses help build specific skills to gain academic confidence and intelligence, preparing them for a successful future, even if it does not mean going to college.

Despite Branham’s attempts to expand APs by originally offering 22 courses for the 2025-2026 school year, AP Studio Art: 3-D Design, AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles were cut due to a lack of student enrollment. 

Limited honors course options can also affect students’ readiness for AP course rigor. This can affect students’ chances of being admitted to a competitive college.

Expanding AP and Honor availability would allow students to engage in more challenging coursework, promoting further excellence within CUHSD and giving students like myself more confidence in being admitted to a college of their choice. The district should ensure that every student has an equal chance to excel in college and beyond.