Bishop Connolly High School class of 2007 graduates Lauren Watts, a freshman at Holy Cross College, and Will Herern, a student at Rhode Island College, have been named AP Scholars with honor, and Samantha D’Amico, a student at New York University, has been named an AP Scholar, by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program AP Exams.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school, and to receive college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 18 percent of the more than 14 million high school students in more than 16,000 secondary schools worldwide who took the AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar.

AP Scholars with distinction receive an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. The designation of state AP Scholar is granted to the one male and one female student in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia with grades of 3 or higher on the greatest number of AP Exams (at least three exams), and then the highest average grade (at least 3.5) on all AP Exams taken.