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All RCPS high schools named 2018 AP Honor Schools
Posted on 04/13/2018
Image says "AP Honors Schools"Conyers, Ga. – All Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) high schools – Heritage, Rockdale County, Salem, and Rockdale Career Academy – were named 2018 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools by State School Superintendent Richard Woods, a distinction RCPS high schools have achieved for more than eight consecutive years.

Interim RCPS Superintendent Shirley Chesser says, “I am proud of our teachers, students, and administrators for their steadfast commitment to academic excellence in all of our high schools, demonstrated by achieving this recognition over many years.”

“Students who are exposed to rigorous coursework are more likely to succeed in college, and Advanced Placement provides the highest level of rigor as well as the opportunity to earn college credit while in high school. Many students also choose Dual Enrollment to obtain college credits while in high school. Our goal is for all our students to graduate with an advantage, whether they choose higher education, the military, or enter the workforce after graduation.”

Heritage High School, Rockdale County High School, Salem High School, and Rockdale Career Academy were recognized in the AP STEM Schools category.

Rockdale County High School was recognized in the AP STEM Achievement category and the AP Humanities category.

Heritage High School and Rockdale County High School were recognized in the AP Access and Support category.

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, American Literature, World Literature and Art.                                      

Definitions of each category provided by the Georgia Department of Education are:

AP Challenge Schools – Schools with enrollments of 900 or fewer students and students testing in four of the core areas (English, math, science, and social studies).

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 Merit Schools – 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 STEM Schools – Schools with students testing in at least two AP math courses and two AP science courses (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science A).

AP STEM Achievement Schools – Schools with students testing in at least two AP math courses and two AP science courses and at least 40 percent of scores on AP math and science exams earning scores of 3 or higher.

AP Humanities Schools – Schools with students testing in the following AP courses: at least one ELA course, two social science courses, one fine arts course and one world language course.