The end of AP Calculus BC is the end of an era. Students who took AP Calculus AB as a junior often look forward to sticking with Mrs. Tara McCullough and pursuing BC as a senior. It is the highest level of math offered at Rocklin High School, and now, it is being removed from the curriculum.

The reason calc BC is ending at Rocklin High next year is because there are simply not enough students to fill the entire class. This year, there are only 26 students total in the one class period that exists. With the integrated mathematics system taking over, less and less students have the prerequisites necessary to take calc BC in high school.

Mrs. McCullough, the one and only teacher of AP Calculus BC at Rocklin High, has quite a neutral opinion on the class ending.

“I’m okay with [not teaching BC anymore]. It has been a great class, but if there aren’t the numbers to run it then there aren’t the numbers to run it, and I will support my department in whatever we need to do, and if I need to teach a different class, then I will do that,” explains McCullough.

Although there are a limited number of students who are ready to take the course, the students who were planning on taking calc BC next year are wondering if they are going to lose out on the class altogether.

“I’m kind of, a little bit, mad that they’re taking [BC] away, because I was definitely planning on taking it next year, so I might just take it at Sierra College instead or something, because either way I’m going to have to take it, and if they discontinue it at Rocklin High, I’ll just have to find another place to take it,” junior Stephanie Zhang adds.

Other options for students who want to take calc BC in high school will be available, so there is no need to worry.

“If a student really wants to take a second year of calculus, they can go to Whitney High School and take it there,” McCullough informs. Whitney has the enrollment necessary to run the class, so they will be accepting Rocklin students that wish to continue taking calc BC.

McCullough also added that if students decide to take the class at Sierra College, they won’t even have to worry about taking the AP exam at the end of the year.

At the end of the day, AP Calculus BC discontinuing at Rocklin High is nothing more than a minor inconvenience to students looking to enroll in the class next year.