Riverhead School District sees its AP Scholars double

Riverhead High School had nearly double the number of AP Scholars last school year than the year before, including a student who became the first high school junior to be named a National AP Scholar, school officials announced this week.

Sixty-five students were named AP Scholars — given to those who scored 3 or higher on three or more AP tests — for the 2011-12 school year, according to the district.

Of the 65 scholars, 16 achieved an average score of 3.25, and another seven scored an average of 3.5 on the tests.

In the 2010-2011 school year, 37 students were named AP Scholars.

“We are very proud of the growth that our students have shown in both taking and excelling on AP exams,” said Riverhead superintendent Nancy Carney. “We applaud our faculty, administrators, and parents for encouraging students to take these rigorous courses that will better prepare our graduates for college.”

Three of the students, including junior Daniel Raynor, were named as National AP Scholars for scoring a 4 or better on eight or more AP exams.

Daniel received perfect scores of 5 on eight tests of the 10 tests he took last year, school officials said, putting him among the top five percent of the 1.5 million students who entered the competition.

In addition to being a student government vice president, a choir singer and baritone horn in band, a Latinist and an actor in the Blue Masques theater group, Daniel tutors elementary school students and is a counselor at Camp Intervention.

He said he hopes to pursue a degree in physics in college.

School officials said more students took the AP exams last year than ever before.

“We are so very proud of their accomplishments,” said assistant principal Charles Regan, who oversees the AP program.

See below for a full list of the AP Scholars for the 2011-12 school year (Students listed in Grade 12 graduated last year):

AP SCHOLARS

AP SCHOLARS WITH HONOR

AP SCHOLAR

NATIONAL AP SCHOLAR