PAUSD School Board to add new Advanced Diploma program for 2026-2027 school year 

The PAUSD school board members introduced the idea of a new Advanced Diploma pathway  during its Aug. 10 meeting as a way to offer an additional opportunity for students to challenge themselves and gain formal recognition for their academic achievements. 

If approved, the program would begin in the 2026-2027 school year and expand on the AP Capstone program offered at Paly, which requires the completion of AP Seminar, AP Research and four additional AP classes scoring a three or higher.

Assistant Superintendent of Innovation and Agility Jeong Choe said the diploma is intended to promote PAUSD values. 

“This College Board program emphasizes that students build skills in research, collaboration and communication, which are skills that we celebrate in PAUSD.”

To receive the Advanced Diploma, students would need to complete an internship, participate in the Stanford Great Minds speaker series, be a National Merit Scholar or have a qualifying ACT or SAT score, and create an oral defense portfolio in addition to the AP Capstone requirements.

But the program has its critics, including teachers who say they weren’t consulted about the program before it was made public and who see the idea of an Advanced Diploma as a direct contradiction to the district’s pledge to focus on student mental health.

AP Seminar and AP Research teacher Lucy Filppu said students in the AP Capstone program already have many ways to shine through original research, peer mentorship leadership and college-level portfolios, making the Advanced Diploma program an unneeded addition to an already thriving program. 

“We already help students stand out with the existing AP Capstone program and all the other APs we offer,” Filppu said. “Creating even more advancement seems unnecessary and against our commitment to balance and student mental health.”

Students have also expressed concerns about the internship and Stanford Great Minds speaker series requirements.

Senior and AP research student Dylan Chen said these requirements make an Advanced Diploma  less accessible for students who lack the connections and resources to meet these requirements. He thinks it could especially negatively affect first generation college students and low income students.

“First generation students join and excel at the (AP Capstone) pathway because the pathway has excellent support systems such as the peer mentorship program,” Chen said. “Adding the new diploma will create higher expectations, more competition and make a rigorous program even more difficult for disadvantaged first generation students who need more support.”

Superintendent Don Austin, though, said parts of the Advanced Diploma criteria, such as the internship requirement, are still tentative, allowing the board of education to make adjustments and increase accessibility.

“(Some students) have advantages we can’t replicate for all students,” Austin said. “(They) can easily get internships due to connections, while other students might really have a hard time with it. We don’t want the access to an internship to be a barrier, so we’re still thinking that one through.”

AP Seminar student Cole Baker said he is concerned students will feel pressure to participate in the program, even if it might not be the right pathway for them.

“This diploma forces everyone into this kind of rat race, which I think will (affect) the mental health of students,” Baker said. “I think a lot of people are going to feel forced, like, ‘I need to do this now,’ because everyone around them is doing it, even though it might not even give them any value.”

AP Seminar teacher Corbin Dodd, who graduated from Paly in 2014, said the Advanced Diploma offering could also negatively affect student self-esteem. 

“When I was a student here, I dropped down a math lane, and that really impacted my sense of how good I was at math,” Dodd said. “That stayed with me for at least a decade. I could see something similar happening with the Advanced Diploma, where essentially we would have a two-tiered system where students in the non-Advanced Diploma would come to believe that they’re not as smart as the students in the Advanced Diploma track.”

But Choe said the potential for any new program that is designed to advance students has the potential to increase pressure on students.

“If implemented thoughtfully, with students’ wellness in mind, the Advanced Diploma could instead validate and celebrate the ongoing efforts of students who are already engaged in rigorous coursework and want to continue challenging themselves,” Choe said. 

Junior and AP Seminar student Juliet Frick, though, said recognizing students’ achievement through a program like the Advanced Diploma could be a good way to reward hard-working students. 

“Anyone who puts in that much work and that much effort and that much extra time, I feel like they deserve to win an award for that,” Frick said. “If I did have time in my schedule to do that, or to qualify for that, it’s definitely something that I would consider doing, because once you already have those six APs, I think an internship is just really great experience that every high school kid should have.”

In the end, Filppu said student achievement will continue whether or not an Advanced Diploma is present to recognize it. 

“I’m not sure where student balance fits into the Advancement Diploma initiative,” Filppu said. “But, I am confident high achieving students will continue to thrive and be recognized.”