In this article, the author discusses the trends of advanced placement classes in American high schools. At Sharpstown High School, advanced placement classes have long been reserved for the academically well-to-do. Other students, a majority of them poor and members of racial or ethnic minorities, never considered the rigorous, college-level courses an option. Here, the author discusses the steps made by the principal and his staff to change the classes' reputation, which kept many middling students from enrolling. The initiative is a microcosm of a wider effort to invite the masses into the advanced placement (AP) classes. But the shift has also raised concerns that less-qualified students will struggle and fail to meet the AP standards, according to a policy analyst. Among other things, the author discusses the AP situation in other schools.