Capstone Reimagined

Palos Verdes High School is a hub of constant movement and circulating news, but one change that has grabbed everyone’s attention is the Capstone redesign. Past seniors were required to do the mandatory project in order to show off their research and theoretical skills. Capstone has had a few tweaks in the past, but the biggest change came this school year, when it became an option for seniors, rather than a requirement. “I think it’s great. The Capstone redesign sets us up for being innovative,” said Dr. Charles Park, principal of PVHS. The College Board is going to offer what are called Capstone Courses, which are Advanced Placement courses that are open to anyone with no prerequisites. “My vision is that this year we will have Advanced Projects and next year we will offer Capstone AP classes,” said Park. The Capstone AP classes are separated into two classes: first is AP Seminar, second is AP Research. Park also mentioned many of the up sides of the new Capstone. “If I was a senior, I want on my transcript credit for the project I have done. So if you’re a senior and do an engineering project, a business plan, or sports management, you can do Advanced Projects or a Capstone project and it will go on your transcript for you to get elective credit,” Park said.
When students apply to colleges, the college admissions committee will see that students have five units for Advanced Project or Capstone AP and they may ask students to explain more about it. “This gives students an opportunity to write about it on their essays and to talk about it in their interviews,” Park said. “[It] really helps differentiate themselves as a student in the college admissions process.” AVID and English teacher, Jennifer Egan, who was part of the team that helped put Capstone together from the beginning, feels disappointed that the school board has taken down a well-built project that helped students work on their research skills in not only a tangible, but in a theoretical way.“We want all students to have research skills, because they need to have the opportunity to write a research paper. Capstone was a project that allowed students to do that,” said Egan. “I’m sad that most kids aren’t going to have the opportunity to do that.” Egan explained the solution to the biggest challenge, which is getting students to take Capstone as an extra class.“Most kids are not going to elect to do it. I know it, but as teachers that is our job to make it accessible to them and encourage students to take it. It is our job to help them make the right power, they currently have, of decision for their future,” said Egan. Cristiano Firmani, a current senior at PV High, had many positive things to say about the new modifications to Capstone. “I actually agree with the new changes capstone has had,” said Firmani. Firmani thinks that it is a good idea because, in addition to taking heavy loads of classes and applying to colleges, a mandatory Capstone would have been very difficult to manage. He explained the system being flawed, commenting that it wasn’t as good as it had been in the years before, and the quality had gone down.
Firmani also stated, “I think that by redesigning it, it could still be a really good project for those who want to do it. If you really like the idea of Capstone then you can choose to do it and make it a really good project and the overall quality will be better.” The next question students should ask themselves now is, what is the right decision for to better their futures?