Glenbrook High School District #225 plans to modify course level titles in its implementation of the Illinois Accelerated Placement Act for the 2025-26 school year. The changes by the district will not affect current Glenbrook North students.
“The Accelerated Placement Act is a requirement by the Illinois State Board of Education that is based upon providing greater access to students who meet or exceed standards to honors and more rigorous curriculum,” said Ryan Bretag, director of teaching and learning for Glenbrook High School District #225.
According to Ed Solis, associate principal for teaching and learning at Glenbrook North, the state rationale for passing the act was to create more pathways for students to access AP and honors classes.
Classes currently designated as honors will be renamed Enriched Honors, which will be the highest level of honors class. There will be a new level called Accelerated Honors, which earns honors credit. Regular-level classes will be titled College and Career Readiness and will not receive honors credit. Only students of the class of 2029 and following years will be eligible to enroll in Accelerated Honors.
“That’s where I think we’re in a really interesting position to offer our students an opportunity to stretch themselves into honors, like an entry-level honors called Accelerated, and then, as they progress through, really look at that from what best serves [their] needs,” said Bretag. “There’s some real value in what the state’s doing to open the idea of stretching yourself, but not stretching yourself so far.”
“If students meet or exceed standards on a school-administered exam within the ACT suite of assessments, they are automatically eligible for enrollment in Accelerated Honors courses,” Bretag said.
Enriched Honors will maintain the 5.0 weighted grade scale. Current honors, AP and dual credit courses fall into this category. Accelerated Honors will be offered with a 4.5 weighted grade scale. College and Career Readiness will maintain a 4.0 weighted grade scale.
“I don’t think that the challenge and the rigor and the levels of college prep coursework will change from what we have experienced before,” said Solis. “It’s simply the accelerated and the automatic placement of students into these levels, the course titles, then the course levels, those are also changing.”
The school will not have the title of G classes, but there are plenty of support systems in place that we will apply to any students that are in need of help, Solis said.
“Here at GBN, we have manystudents that meet and exceed standards,” said Solis. “And so creating multiple levels of honors classes will allow students to take part in classes as they see fit.”