Heritage High, Rockdale County High and Salem High were named 2013 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools by Georgia State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge.
“We are certainly proud of our teachers, students and administrators for embracing Advanced Placement which is displayed through these outstanding results,” said Superintendent Richard Autry. “We have also recently been recognized by the College Board as an AP Honor District among only 539 across the nation. These recognitions are a true testament of our district-wide focus to increase rigor for all students. In all of our high schools we have and will continue to increase the number of AP courses offered along with additional support to ensure students are successful.”
Both Heritage and Rockdale were recognized in the AP Access and Support category and the AP STEM Achievement categories. Salem High School was recognized in the AP STEM category.
Advanced Placement classes and exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP classes offer rigorous college-level courses to students in high school. Students who earn a three, four or five on the AP exams may receive college credit. RCPS offers AP courses at every high school, including the Rockdale Career Academy and Virtual Campus. Examples of courses include: U.S. History, World History, Economics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics, American Literature, World Literature and Art.
The 2013 AP Honor Schools are named in five categories, based on the results of AP exams:
• AP Access and Support Schools: Schools with at least 30% of their AP exams taken by students who identified themselves as African- American and/or Hispanic and 30% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher
• AP STEM Schools: Schools with students testing in at least two (2) AP math courses and two (2) AP science courses (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics B, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science)
• AP STEM Achievement Schools: Schools with students testing in at least 2 AP math courses and 2 AP science courses and at least 40% of the exam scores on AP math and AP science exams earning scores of three (3) or higher
- AP Challenge Schools: Schools of 900 or fewer students with students testing in four of the core areas (English, math, science, and social studies)
- AP Merit Schools: Schools with at least 20% of the student population taking AP exams and at least 50% of all AP exams earning scores of three (3) or higher
