Analyses

89 students sat an AP exam; 88.3% of the tests scored 3 or better

About 39% of Lunenburg High’s juniors and seniors sat at least one AP exam in SY2025, the tests scored 3 or better at the highest rate in nineteen years — and three in four sittings were English or history.

lunenburgbudgetproject.org — written by the Lunenburg Budget Project, an independent tool for residents. Not affiliated with the Town of Lunenburg, the School Committee or the school district. The data this page is computed from: /data/ap.json

89
students sat at least one AP exam in SY2025; 154 sittings
88.3%
of tests scored 3 or better
39%
of the 11th and 12th grades, approximately

What this report counts

Three counts that are not the same thing: CHILDREN who sat at least one exam, SITTINGS, and TESTS at each score. The participation ratio divides children by the 11th and 12th grade enrolment and is an approximation.

0189students sat an AP exam, SY2025

89 students sat at least one AP exam in SY2025 — about 39% of the 11th and 12th grades.

In SY2007 it was 18% of a bigger class. The count peaked at 122 in SY2018.

A smaller high school sends a larger share of its upperclassmen into AP exams than it did. 89 students took 154 exams in SY2025, against 227 in the 11th and 12th grades. In SY2007 it was 58 students against 322. The ratio is an approximation: a tenth grader can sit an exam, and the two DESE files count on different days.

What courses actually ran → · Who is in the schools →

What it rests on `dese_ap` participation, Lunenburg district, All Students, All Subjects; `dese_enrollment` grades 11 and 12 for the denominator.

What it does not show Who is offered the courses, who is steered toward or away from the exam, or what a sitting costs a family. Participation is a count of who sat.

0288.3%of tests scored 3–5, SY2025

88.3% of AP tests scored 3 or better in SY2025, the best of 19 years; the low: 62.1% in SY2009.

A score of 3 is the usual threshold for college credit. Two years ago it was 75.8%.

Of 154 tests in SY2025, 28 scored a five and 2 scored a one; the full distribution is charted below. It is a share of TESTS, not of students: a student who sat three exams counts three times.

What it rests on `dese_ap` performance, Lunenburg district, All Students, All Subjects, pct_3_5 and the score counts.

What it does not show Why. Better teaching, different students choosing to sit, or the mix of subjects shifting toward ones with higher pass rates all produce this number, and the file separates none of them.

03117English and history sittings, SY2025

117 of 154 AP sittings in SY2025 were English or history; science and math were 31.

In SY2015 science and math were 51 sittings. Foreign languages: 22 then, 1 now.

76% of sittings in SY2025 were in English or history. The table below gives every subject family at both ends. This is the exam-room view of what /what-courses-actually-ran measures in the schedule: a language programme narrowing, and a STEM one that sits few exams.

Foreign language, narrowing on every instrument →

What it rests on `dese_ap` participation, subject-family rollups (DESE’s own, `subj = subj_cat`), Lunenburg district, SY2015 and SY2025.

What it does not show Whether the courses are offered and unchosen, or not offered. A sitting count cannot tell a closed door from an empty room. Small families are suppressed in DESE’s participation file and taken from its performance file, which says so in the table.

Those are the answers this report could reach from the documents behind it. If the one you came for is not among them, ask us — no name or email needed.

Who sits, year by year

  • sittings
  • students who sat an exam
SY2007SY2010SY2013SY2016SY2019SY2022SY2025055110165220

How the tests scored

SY2007SY2010SY2013SY2016SY2019SY2022SY202550%65%80%95%100%
12345score, SY2025020406080

Tests, not students. A student who sat three exams is three bars’ worth.

In what subjects

subject familySY2015SY2025students3 or better
History and Social Science65595694.9%
English Language Arts69585887.9%
Math and Computer Science21211881.0%
Science and Technology3010*960.0%
Arts4*5*5—
Foreign Languages221*1—

Sittings by subject family, DESE’s own rollups. * DESE suppresses small groups in the participation file; the count is taken from the performance file, which reports the same tests. A dash is suppressed in both.

Every year

yearstudentssittingsgrades 11–12share3 or better
SY2007589132218%76.9%
SY20085810032618%79.0%
SY20096210327822%62.1%
SY20106713126026%69.5%
SY20118315726831%83.4%
SY20128517426133%74.1%
SY20139418423839%74.5%
SY201410120322146%76.8%
SY201510021120649%77.3%
SY20168919520244%66.7%
SY20179918720748%64.7%
SY201812221421158%67.8%
SY20199918921047%78.8%
SY20208015021937%80.0%
SY20219216923938%76.3%
SY20227515222433%78.9%
SY20239716521146%75.8%
SY20248316221040%87.0%
SY20258915422739%88.3%
  • Which AP courses the high school offers in a given year; DESE counts exams sat, not courses taught.
  • Anything about the students who did not sit: whether they were in the course and chose not to, or never had access.
  • How Lunenburg compares to other districts — the extract holds Lunenburg only.

What would close these

The high school’s program of studies for each year, which lists the AP courses offered; the district publishes it and the archive does not yet hold it. Every limit on this page is also a row in what we cannot answer, which is the single registry the records request reads from.

dese-ap-participation.xlsx

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

AP participation, every Massachusetts district and school, SY2007-SY2025: children who sat at least one exam and sittings, by subject and student group. Stage: published; counts

table · 85.0 MB

sha256 9e8c773b4896a743…

our copy · the publisher’s

dese-ap-performance.xlsx

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

AP performance, the same span: tests at each score 1-5 by subject and group. Small groups suppressed by DESE. Stage: published; counts of tests

table · 88.9 MB

sha256 d29ed6258ba56d09…

our copy · the publisher’s

dese-enrollment-by-grade.xlsx

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Enrollment by grade; the grade 11 and 12 counts are the denominator for the participation ratio. Stage: published; a count on one day

table · 13.4 MB

sha256 a2fb23dea70ce67d…

our copy · the publisher’s

Every other report

The One Big Report →The blog — one finding at a time, in two minutes →This week in town — meetings coming up, minutes and recordings just posted →What was said — minutes from the recordings →Lunenburg by the numbers — who lives here →Special education — four reports →How many students one special education group may have →The circuit breaker — what the state reimburses for the costliest placements →What other districts spend, for each pupil →What the state requires us to spend — and where that puts us →Chapter 70 — the formula, and why it pays the floor →How Chapter 70 actually works, in eight steps →School staffing — did it go up, and over which years →Who works in each school →The paraprofessionals →What courses actually ran, subject by subject →The cut register — what was announced, and what shows →What stopped being funded →When a grant ends — who picks up the bill →Who is in the schools — enrolment, FY1994 to today →Which grades students leave in →Who leaves Lunenburg schools, and where they go →Monty Tech — the assessment, and what sets it →If students leave — what school choice would cost →What a family actually pays →What sports cost, and who pays →Health insurance — the cost outside the school budget →Budgets against what was later reported →

Every analysis this project has written, in one index, is at reports.

What changed

Version 14 — updated September 7, 2026