Prospective high school students gathered around the varsity gym to tour campus course options on Wednesday’s Advanced Academics Night.

Advanced Academics night on Nov. 16 featured Advanced Placement, Dual Credit and UT On-Ramps courses to teach students where they might fit once they enter high school.

“(It’s) an opportunity for students and their parents to talk to other students and get a realistic picture of classes and workload,” English teacher Verna Mann said. “My students were awesome and were prepared to answer questions. They did an excellent job of fielding questions from both parents and students.”

Each course had a student ambassador to explain curriculum and coursework to students. Some featured courses were AP Music Theory, AP Computer Science, Dual Credit U.S. History and On-Ramps Precalculus.

“Being an ambassador is a really rewarding feeling,” sophomore Isabella Hickey said. “It kinda feels like the teachers recognize the work that you put into the class and want to see you succeed.”

A representative from Northeast Lakeview College of the Alamo Colleges District explained dual credit opportunities on campus, while math teacher Dora Rodriguez explained the UT On-Ramps process.

“I think that the reason why this night is so important is because too often kids feel excluded from taking advanced courses,” Hickey said. “While AP and DC courses are a bit more work, they actually help more–the skills that you learn help.”

Academics Night served as a precursor to Rising Rangers, a counselor-sponsored event where eighth grade students from feeder middle schools will tour the campus and its extracurricular activities.

Over three hundred Smithson Valley Middle School students will be on campus Nov. 29, followed by nearly 200 students from Spring Branch Middle School on Dec. 1.

A full course guide with deeper descriptions can be found here on the Comal ISD Website.