Conyers, Ga. – All three high schools within Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) were named Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools by State School Superintendent Richard Woods, a distinction RCPS high schools have achieved for more than 15 consecutive years. Heritage High, Rockdale County High, and Salem High were named AP Expansion Schools, while Heritage High and Rockdale County High also made the lists for AP Humanities and AP STEM. Rockdale County High School was also named an AP Access and Support School.
Acting Superintendent Shirley Chesser said, “We are proud of all our high schools for this prestigious state recognition. Achieving the AP Honor Schools distinction illustrates the hard work of our students, teachers, administrators, and support staff. We have increased our AP course offerings, giving more students the opportunity to engage in college-level coursework and the potential to earn college credits while in high school.”
Rockdale County Board of Education Chairwoman Sandra Jackson-Lett said, “On behalf of the entire Board, I congratulate all our high schools for this accomplishment. We are proud of their commitment to challenge students with advanced academics and provide all students with these opportunities.”
Advanced Placement classes and exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP classes offer rigorous college-level learning opportunities to students in high school. Students who earn a 3, 4 or 5 on the AP exams may receive college credit. RCPS offers AP courses at every high school, including the Rockdale Career Academy and Rockdale Virtual Campus. Examples of courses include: U.S. History, World History, Economics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics, Computer Science, American Literature, World Literature and Art.
Definitions of each category provided by the Georgia Department of Education are:
AP Access and Support Schools – Schools with at least 30 percent of AP exams taken by students who identified themselves as African-American and/or Hispanic and 30 percent of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
AP Challenge Schools – Schools with enrollments of 900 or fewer students and students testing in English, math, science, and social studies.
AP Schools of Distinction – Schools with at least 20 percent of the total student population taking AP exams and at least 50 percent of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
AP Expansion Schools – AP schools with 25 percent growth in AP participation from May 2021 to May 2022 and a minimum of 25 students testing in May 2020.
AP Humanities Schools – Schools with a minimum of five students testing in each of the following AP categories: one ELA course, two history/social science courses, one fine arts course and one world language course.
AP Humanities Achievement Schools – AP Humanities schools (see above definition) with at least 50 percent of all AP Humanities exams earning scores of 3 or higher.