Advanced Placement Courses

Many of the courses at Peoria Notre Dame High School are identified as advanced placement courses. Designation as an Advanced placement course means that the course is qualified through the state as a high school level preparatory course for a college advanced placement test that incorporates all topics specified by the College Board and the Educational Testing Service on its standard syllabus for a given subject area and is approved by the College Board.

Students who receive a 4 or a 5 on the advanced placement test may be given credit for the course by their college of choice. Each college has its own requirements that determine whether or not a student receives advanced placement credit for a course.

There is a lengthy qualification process for a course to qualify as an advanced placement course. It is important to note that even though a class at Peoria Notre Dame High School is not designated as an advanced placement course that a student still has the option of taking the advanced placement test because a course does not have to be designated as an advanced placement course. A large number of our students who have taken courses at Peoria Notre Dame that were not labeled as an advanced placement course choose to take the advanced placement tests in the different subject areas and many of them receive the 4 or 5 needed and as a result become exempt from taking the course at the college of their choice.

We strongly encourage our students to take the advanced placement tests.

Dual Credit Courses There are also dual credit courses offered at Peoria Notre Dame High School. Dual credit courses are university-level courses taught in high schools to eligible high school students by university-qualified instructors using the college's required textbooks and curricula. When a student successfully completes a dual-credit course, they simultaneously receive both high school and university credit. A letter grade and university credit hours are awarded by the college or university offering the dual credit course and a record of that class is then kept at that institution, just as if they had been on-campus taking the class.

The courses are taught on the high school campus by high school teachers who have been approved to serve as adjunct lecturers by the university.

The college or university which a student plans to attend after high school graduation will, in large part, determine whether a particular dual credit class is appropriate for them. Students should check with their prospective institutions to determine if a particular dual credit course would be accepted in transfer. Course transferability is not guaranteed. A high school counselor might be able to determine which if any of the high school’s advance courses are considered dual credit courses, and which college or university offers the course on their campus.

The curriculum offered at Peoria Notre Dame High School is a challenging and well-rounded program that is offered at three levels; honors, regular, and modified. We feel that changing our curriculum to match that of a curriculum that offers IB stature would mean reducing the quality that already exists in our curriculum. At Peoria Notre Dame, we utilize an array of assessments, we offer unique courses, and our students commit to donating their time toward Christian service for our community. We require students to take courses that enable them to use Macintosh computers and we offer courses such as engineering courses to provide them with an opportunity to explore various fields.

We feel that no other program in the area matches our Christian Service Program. The majority of our students go beyond the required 100 hours of service. This opportunity not only helps to build their character and helps make our community a better place; it serves as a testament to the quality of student that attends Peoria Notre Dame High School. Collectively, last year’s graduating class donated more than 35,000 hours of their time during their years at Peoria Notre Dame to more than 250 sites.

We encourage you to contact our Director of Admissions, Mrs. Patricia Brignadello, to learn more about Peoria Notre Dame High School and what attending PND means for a student’s future.

Mrs. Patricia Brignadello
Director of Admissions and Counselor
5105 N Sheridan Rd.
Peoria, Illinois 61614
309-691-9454
p.brignadello@pndhs.org