By Linda Chion
Hillsborough County School Board members were set to approve at their April 19 meeting a letter of approval with Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) to expand CAIE programs countywide.
“Since the fall of 2020, Sumner High School has been the only Cambridge AICE high school program in Hillsborough County Public Schools,” according to a school district report prepared for school board consideration. “The Cambridge expansion will begin in the fall of 2022 with the addition of 13 high schools and one additional middle school. This will allow additional students to take advantage of Cambridge Lower Secondary, Pre-AICE and AICE courses.”
The Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) was first awarded in 1997 and has since become popular with a range of schools in different parts of the world. It encompasses the ‘gold standard’ Cambridge International AS and A Level qualifications and offers students the opportunity to tailor their studies to their individual interests, abilities and future plans within an international curriculum framework.
School board members were set to approve for the 2022-23 school year Cambridge programs at Brandon, Plant City and Riverview High Schools and at Shields Middle School in Ruskin, as well as at East Bay High School in Gibsonton, Spoto High School in Riverview, Wharton and Freedom High Schools in New Tampa and Blake, Chamberlain, Jefferson, King, Leto and Middleton High Schools in Tampa.
Schools now with Cambridge programs are Rodgers Middle Magnet School in Riverview, Franklin Boys and Franklin Girls Preparatory Academy Middle Schools in Tampa and Sumner High School at the border of Balm and Riverview.
According to school officials, Sumner High administered 977 AICE exams in spring 2021. Roughly three out of four exam takers received a score that qualifies them for potential college credit. This school year, Sumner reportedly has 1,187 students enrolled in at least one AICE course, with school officials expected to administer 2,474 examinations this spring. Sumner offers 17 AICE and six Pre-AICE courses with 72 and 94 sections, respectively.
For more about the AICE program, visit Cambridge Assessment International Education at www.cambridgeinternational.org, or visit www.hillsboroughcountyschools.org and search for ‘Cambridge schools.’
