A new course will soon be offered for Lehighton High School students.

Lehighton Area School District's board of directors recently approved the addition of calculus III to its course selection booklet.Calculus III will become the highest level math class at the school."We have students who have taken and received a five on the Advanced Placement Calculus exam for BC," said Lehighton Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver.Two different types of AP Calculus exams exist: AB and BC.According to the College Board, AB covers the key concepts, methods and applications of single-variable calculus including functions, graphs, and limits, derivatives, integrals and the fundamental theorem of calculus. BC, meanwhile, covers additional topics in differential and integral calculus, such as parametric, polar and vector functions, and series.A 5 is the highest score on an AP Calculus exam.Cleaver said a handful of students have accomplished that at Lehighton."We have moved math down to lower and lower grades, and that is allowing students to excel and accelerate their path through discretionary mathematics," he said. "We are looking to go above and beyond with calculus III, which would be set up like a midlevel college math course."The course will not require extra staff."This is a great thing for our students, especially those who want to go into the medical field and things like that," Cleaver said.