Next year, the Breck history department is adding two brand-new AP classes to its course offerings: AP US Government and Politics and AP Comparative Government and Politics. These new classes will give students the opportunity to learn about civics, politics, and government, and they will be a welcome addition to the current history class offerings.
This change was advocated for by Avital Krebs ‘26, Kelan McKay ‘26, Jared Noble ‘26, and Avery Teeter ‘26. They initiated a meeting with Ms. Adey, History Department Chair, to discuss the possibility of adding AP Government classes next year because they felt there were not enough AP history classes offered at Breck.
When asked why she is interested in AP Government classes, Avital said, “I’m really interested in law and the government.” She also said, “We want more options for APs.” She is currently in AP European History, and she doesn’t want to take AP Art History next year. AP Government will be a great option for those who are not interested in taking AP Art History, and as Avital noted, “AP Art History is not for everyone. It’s a lot of memorization.” Avital says that “If you want something, reach out.” She commented that the administration, especially Ms. Adey, were very nice and considerate when they advocated for the new courses.
On the other side of this process was Ms. Adey who was the decision maker of adding these new classes. She said that “We [the history department] had talked about these classes, especially AP Gov. There just hadn’t necessarily been huge interest from students, or at least vocalized interest in the past.” The history department had been looking for ways for a student to identify themselves as passionate about history, which seems to be easier to do in science or math with accelerated or advanced classes, and with these new semester options, they hope that will be easier to do (as they can stack semester-long AP options with an Honors Research course).
Both AP US Government and AP Comparative Government are college level introductory political science courses. AP US Government focuses on US politics, while AP Comparative Government looks at six different political systems from around the world. When asked about whether students are supposed to take both in one year, Ms. Adey said, “We want students to have some flexibility.” These classes could be taken together, but students can also just take one. She is also not sure yet which teachers will teach these courses.
As for AP European History, which was temporarily not going to be offered next year, the history department was planning to “rotate” the class out next year. They had many students who took AP US History, then AP European History, and then when they got to Advanced History Research they did not have the research experience necessary to be successful in the class. Because of this, the history department decided to take the class out of the course offerings for next year and switch to more of a semester model. However, many students still wanted to take AP European History, so they brought it back for next year.
Ms. Adey “hope[s] that students find something in the history department that they are really excited about.” She also wants to make these classes accessible, so there is no application or teacher recommendation required to enroll in advanced history classes (other than Advanced History Research). These new classes are sure to offer amazing new opportunities for Breck students!
