The upper school deans announced in a campus-wide email March 25 that the school will no longer require students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses to take AP exams at the end of the year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

While the AP tests are now optional, the deans encouraged students to confer with their instructors before deciding whether to take the 45-minute online exams.

“Some colleges may continue to offer course credit or use AP test scores for placement, but students weighing the option of taking AP tests should consult their teachers and deans,” Assistant to Head of Upper School and Dean Coordinator Lynn Miller said in the email. “With many high schools around the country moving away from AP curricula, AP tests have not, for a while, been a major factor in college admissions.”

Furthermore, after the cancellation of the SAT and ACT testing days, which were scheduled for May 2 and April 4 respectively, the deans said they plan to open the school as an additional testing center for the make-up ACT in July.

“For students who had been preparing for spring tests and looking forward to demonstrating their testing acumen, there is every reason to expect that there will be additional test administrations added to accommodate them as soon as it is safe to do so,” Miller said. “Assuming that SAT and ACT administrations resume this summer, Harvard-Westlake plans to become a test center for the July ACT in an effort to give students more opportunities to take these tests in their own school environment.”

The deans said they are in contact with colleges around the country and will send updates to students regarding the status of the AP tests, as well as SAT and ACT dates.