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McLean High School students will have a new career-oriented AP option in the 2026-27 school year, with AP Business Principles bringing entrepreneurship, finance, marketing and business decision-making into the course catalog.

The class marks a departure from McLean’s more traditional AP lineup, which has largely centered on core subjects through courses such as AP Calculus, AP Biology, AP English Literature and AP U.S. History. Those classes remain popular, but demand has grown for options connecting academic work with practical skills and potential careers.

Sophomore Inhee Do said the course caught her attention because it differs from most AP offerings.

“I think it will help students learn skills they can actually use in the future,” Do said.

The new course follows years of curriculum and technology changes at McLean. In the early 2000s, the school began incorporating computer labs and digital tools as technology became more common in education. Students increasingly conducted research online and completed assignments digitally.

During the 2010s, McLean added more STEM offerings as interest grew in engineering, coding and data-focused fields. Computer science and other technology-centered electives gave students additional choices beyond the conventional AP track.

That transition accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when McLean shifted to virtual classes on Zoom and online assignment submissions. After in-person instruction resumed, many of those tools remained. From 2021 through 2023, laptops, online platforms and digital resources continued to play a regular role in classrooms.

AP Business Principles represents another stage in that evolution. Rather than concentrating on a single traditional academic discipline, the course combines several areas of business and emphasizes their real-world uses.

Sophomore Brady Chua said he is excited to learn more about business and expects the class to appeal to other students considering similar careers.

The addition also reflects a broader effort to balance academic rigor with career preparation as student interests and the job market change.

Sophomore Kahveh Sabahi said it is important for schools such as McLean to continue adopting courses that interest students, adding that the school is moving in the right direction.