Roxy Kalantari

Students take advantage of opportunities to get ahead by enrolling in college courses, summer school courses, and zero periods. The self-driven and ambitious students who choose to take additional courses do it because they want to — because they want to accomplish more than what is standard.

Ayala offers a myriad of ways for every student to customize and personalize their academic plan to meet their individual goals. For many students, taking additional courses outside of the standard six-period class schedule during the fall and spring semesters is the optimal route for them to get where they want to be. The main three ways they achieve this is by taking a zero period, dual enrollment classes offered by Chaffey College, or summer school through the Chino Valley Unified School District’s (CVUSD) Alternative Education. 

Most of the zero period classes offered at Ayala are Advanced Placement (AP) classes, which allow students to fit in one extra class in their schedules and opens up the opportunity to receive college credit. 

“You just get that little bit of extra knowledge that might carry on into your future somewhere,” said Logan Cromwell (11). “Everything that you learn is valuable, and the more information you have, the more power you have.”

Cromwell took AP European History as a zero period during his sophomore year and is currently taking AP Seminar as a zero period his junior year. Taking a zero period was convenient for him and did not put too much of a burden on his plate. For other students, an extra class would not have been as beneficial to their academic plan. 

Ethan Luu is a senior who took PE 10 and Health the summer after his freshman year, and took US History the summer after his sophomore year so he could free up some space in the school year for the AP classes he wanted to take. 

“At the time, the plan was to just fill out all of my credits without having to take extra classes like a zero period,” said Luu. “I could have taken just the necessary classes to fill out the credentials—the bare minimum requirement—but I wanted to meet that recommended level of classes.”

Students are only required to take three years of math, two years of science, and two years of a foreign language to be eligible for admission to a University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU). However, taking an extra year of each is highly recommended for students who are aiming to attend a more competitive school. 

Luu is on track to graduate this school year, having completed four years of study at Ayala. The path he took to get here is the conventional one, but there are also other paths that are open to unconventional students who have different plans.

Enter Aidan Meyer, a junior who has accumulated enough credits in three years to graduate early. He knew that he wanted to graduate early from the get-go, so he started researching ways he could do it on his own. After consulting with his counselor and creating an education plan, he was set to accrue the minimum required credits for graduation before his senior year in addition to college credits that fulfill prerequisites. His education plan consists of AP courses and dual enrollment courses among other “A-G” requirements taken during the school year and during the summer.

“I don’t want to waste time taking classes I don’t care about when I could take care of them now, and then possibly spend more time thinking about my future, internship possibilities, and also use that time to take better classes that look better to bigger schools,” said Meyer. 

There are, of course, some downsides that come with such a demanding and rigorous course load. 

“I have a lot less time for myself and I have to put more of that time and focus into the college courses. That’s a lot of stress on me because I don’t want to bomb them early on before I get into college,” said Meyer.

The common thread that weaves between all these different paths to get to the same end goal—graduating high school and getting accepted to college—is that they demand the use of time management, intrinsic motivation, and a good attitude from students in order for them to be successful. 

“It definitely helps me budget time and better schedule my time because going class to class, you have to take time out of your day to do the necessary work and listen to lectures,” said Luu.

It is important that these students want to do this for themselves, to achieve for their own good.

“It’s about attitude; I’m doing this because I want to. Because I want to, I have to make sure I do it correctly and in a manner that makes me feel comfortable,” said Meyer. “If you feel good and if you feel like you’re learning something from these college courses, that definitely helps a lot.”

A true passion for learning and an intellectual vitality are qualities that students nurture in high school and beyond. There are a multitude of opportunities that Ayala offers for students who have that thirst for knowledge, those who would feel remiss for wasting a single second.