The Lenape Regional Foundation has made a generous $30,000 donation to support Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) students pursuing college credits through the district’s College Acceleration Program (CAP) or Advanced Placement (AP) exams. The foundation expanded the use of donated funds to cover AP exam fees after the college board moved up the timeline for ordering exams, now requiring students to commit to taking one or more exams by the beginning of November rather than early spring.
“The expanded use of the funding this year to cover AP exams supports our district-wide
commitment to give students equal access to opportunities for growth and achievement,”
LRHSD Superintendent Carol Birnbohm said. “Eligible students can now customize how they want to receive college credit based on their post-graduation plans and preferences. This is a more equitable approach to supporting students’ efforts to pursue college credits in our schools. We hope that this, in turn, leads to even more students pursuing those credits and then applying them at a two- or four-year institution.”
The new AP exam timeline aligns with the registration period for LRHSD’s CAP. Established through a partnership with LRHSD, Rowan College of Burlington County (RCBC) and Rowan University (RU), CAP offers students taking select courses an opportunity to earn both high school and college credit. Members of the LRHSD staff, who also are approved as RCBC and RU adjunct professors, teach these courses in their respective high schools during the regular school day.
“Through the Foundation’s support, we can remove financial barriers that often prevent
students in CAP and AP courses from taking full advantage of opportunities to earn college
credit,” Heather Xenakis, LRHSD director of curriculum and instruction said. “We know that
as students begin to accumulate college credit in high school, they gain momentum that
drives them toward college. The Foundation’s support, therefore, is invaluable, because it
helps many students make our district’s ideal of ‘Two Graduations’ their own reality.”
The foundation presented the $30,000 donation at the LRHSD Board of Education meeting on Oct. 16.
Foundation President Ed O’Malley said, “We look forward to once again partnering with the
district to help students reach their academic and personal goals. The Foundation’s efforts
align with the district’s unwavering focus to put students first and find ways to support their
success both in high school and beyond.”
According to Birnbohm, the foundation’s CAP and AP exam scholarships are available to
those students who qualify for the federal free and/or reduced lunch program and currently
are enrolled in at least one CAP- or AP-eligible course.
Members of the community who would like to help students in CAP and AP courses can
make donations by sending a check to the Lenape Regional Foundation, Inc., c/o LRHSD,
K. Kiki Konstantinos Administration and Staff Development Building, 93 Willow Grove Road,
Shamong, NJ 08088.