The two Advanced Placement psychology teachers were already back at Conard High School Thursday night — albeit in summer vacation shorts and sandals — to meet their new students and outline course expectations.

Nicole Niland, who arrived from Maine only hours earlier, told the students they must plow through 15 chapters before the spring AP exam.

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"Work as hard as we do, and if you do, you'll pass," said Chris Islaub, who assured students of extra help.

The first day of classes isn't until Aug. 29. But about 80 Conard sophomores, juniors and seniors have occupied third-floor classrooms this week for the school's inaugural "AP boot camp," a five-day series of evening sessions to prepare those taking the college-level courses in the new academic year.

Conard's AP participation has rocketed as school administrators look to the program as a way to cultivate high expectations among a diverse student body. In 2011, 547 Conard students took 1,104 AP exams, with 69 percent receiving a passing score of 3 or higher. The most popular test was psychology — 164 students took the AP exam and 86 percent passed.

Teachers often spend after-school hours working with students. Elyse Nevins, who teaches AP calculus, said she decided to extend the help.

Nevins worked with Principal Peter Cummings and Assistant Principal Julio Duarte to organize the voluntary summer sessions to address test-taking strategies, time management and the critical reading and persuasive writing required on AP exams.

Ten of the staff's Advanced Placement teachers signed up, said Nevins, who expects the camp to be offered again next summer. Teachers will receive a nominal stipend, but are essentially volunteering, she said.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday focused on strategies and chances for students to meet new classmates. Thursday and Friday were for teachers to introduce their courses and themselves. The AP environmental science teacher, for example, took students on a nature walk.

"We just want kids to feel prepared," said Lynn Racz, a French and Spanish teacher who taught a time management workshop earlier in the week.

"We have a lot of students taking an AP class for the first time" — such as biology or psychology — "so they were nervous," Racz said. "But we had some seniors, too, who wanted to brush up on their skills."

Anamel DeLeon, 16, an incoming junior enrolled in AP psychology and Spanish language, said she appreciated the talk from Niland and Islaub.

"I've never taken an AP class before, so I thought this could help me get prepared for what I'm getting into," DeLeon said Thursday.

In another classroom, Cummings, a former English teacher at Farmington High School, reviewed rhetorical techniques with 14 students. Each had a copy of Erik Larson's non-fiction book, "The Devil in the White City," on their desks.

The book is required summer reading for AP English language and composition. The school principal was filling in for the teacher.

"Syntax: Why we do we care?" Cummings asked the group.

"Because it can change the mood," answered Jonathan Zellinger, a junior who plans to take AP English, U.S. history and possibly physics.

The 15-year-old summer intern for Sen. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, said he usually works until 8 p.m., but that Bye has allowed him hours off to attend the sessions.

Zellinger said he was interested in getting other classmates' perspectives on the book.

"I had a really hard time getting started," Zellinger said, "but you have to get in that school mode before school starts."