AP Statistics
Letter to Parents and Guardians
Dear Parent or Guardian,
Justine Hebert
Somerville High School
2015-2016
My name is Justine Hebert, and I am writing to tell you about the AP Statistics course that your student
is enrolled in at Somerville High School. I look forward to an interesting and busy year teaching this
academically challenging course.
One of my goals for all courses that I teach is to foster and maintain positive and open communication
with students as well as parents and guardians. So, first I will invite you to contact me with any issues or
questions that you may have regarding AP Statistics during the course of the year. Email is the easiest
and quickest way to reach me. My email address is:
jhebert@k12.somerville.ma.us
In addition, please know that I maintain a website for our class, which can be found
at: www.mshebertmath.com
(Note that the name is “hebert”, and not “herbert”. )
The website is a place where you and your student can find schedules, class notes, assignments, and
other course-related documents. It is especially useful when your child is absent. On the website, you
will also find documents such as the course syllabus, the absence policy, and expectations for students
regarding class details such as grading and assignments.
As noted above, this course is quite challenging. It gives students access to college level material, and
potentially even college credits. Due to the rigor involved, there are high expectations for student
engagement, accountability, and preparedness for the course. Once class begins, your child will know
exactly what the expectations and requirements are. You can find these on the website under AP
Statistics Course Documents .
At Somerville High School, all students enrolled in AP classes are expected to take the AP exam for the
course. The AP Exam for Statistics is scheduled for Thursday, May 12, 2016, during the school day.
All assignment and assessment scores are logged onto the X2 system, which you may access for
information on how your student is faring in class.
Your child has been issued a physical textbook, access to the online textbook, and a graphing calculator,
all of which must be returned at the end of the school year.
Lastly, I am attaching a fact sheet about the study of statistics, careers, and what people can do with the
discipline. Perhaps you and your child can talk about and investigate some of these ideas together! Data
scientists and statisticians are among the fastest growing and most sought after professions in industry
right now! If you and your student would like to explore more about statistics as a career, I recommend
starting with this website, created by the American Statistical Association: www.thisisstatistics.com
Please join me in supporting and encouraging your student in his or her endeavors in AP Statistics!
Sincerely Yours,
Justine Hebert
Teacher, AP Statistics
THINK YOU KNOW STATISTICS?
THINK AGAIN!
Statistics is a fulfilling and rewarding profession. With a career in
statistics — the science of learning from data — you can make a
difference, have fun, satisfy your curiosity, and make money.
Make a Difference
Have Fun
Satisfy Curiosity
Make Money
Where Do Statisticians Work and What Do They Do?
Sports
Ecology and the Environment
Work with professional or college sports
teams using statistics to inform draft
picks for the most competitive players.
Conduct analyses that lead to better
management of the earth’s natural
resources, working for organizations like
the National Forest Service and World
Resources Institute.
Medicine and Health
Help medical researchers understand
the prevalence of disease among various
populations. Work with pharmaceutical
companies to develop new drugs that are
safe and effective.
Data Science
Contribute to advancements in the
computing industry through machine
learning, speech recognition and artificial
intelligence. Work for companies like
Microsoft, Google and Apple.
Business and Finance
Help industry improve efficiency in
business processes; work with banks to
identify risk and opportunity in lending,
investing and other areas.
Politics and Government
Improve voter targeting and assess
the success of government policies
and programs.
Jobs in Statistics are Growing Fast and Offer
Competitive Salaries
Mean annual salaries of
statisticians in 2014
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
$150,000
80%
$105,650
$106,000
Jobs in statistics are expected to grow
faster than average for all occupations
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Covers employment growth from 2012 to 2022.
30%
25%
80%
80%
27%
20%
$83,000
15%
11%
10%
5%
U.S.
Raleigh, NC
Washington, DC Silicon Valley, CA
Metro Area
0%
Statistician
All occupations
Four More Reasons to Study Statistics
»» Statistical analysis and data mining were
listed among the “hottest skills of 2014”
by LinkedIn.
»» The McKinsey Global Institute predicts a
shortage of up to 190,000 people with the
skills needed to run Big Data projects.
»» Online jobs site CareerCast named
statistician a top job for women.
»» Fortune magazine ranked statistics and
biostatistics among the top graduate
degrees based on salary, growth and
job satisfaction.
To learn more about careers in statistics,
and how to become a statistician,
go to www.ThisisStatistics.org
American Statistical Association
732 North Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-1943
703.684.1221
Promoting the Practice and Profession of Statistics
www.amstat.org