Three of the four local public high schools were among the 462 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools named in a report released Monday by the Georgia Department of Education.
Campbell High School in Smyrna and North Springs Charter High School and Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs each were named AP STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Schools, and Riverwood and Campbell were selected an AP STEM Achievement Schools. North Springs and Riverwood also each was chosen an AP Merit School.
Campbell also was named an AP Access and Support School. North Atlanta High School in Buckhead was not named to any of the lists, and none of the local schools were selected AP Challenge Schools.
Of the statewide list of schools being picked, State School Superintendent John Barge said, “There are so many Georgia schools that have great success with Advanced Placement. I am so pleased to see this success grow to more and more of our schools this year. These achievements can be attributed to the outstanding students and teachers at each of our AP Honor Schools.”
AP classes and exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP classes offer rigorous college-level learning options to students in high school. Students who receive a 3, 4 or 5 on AP exams may receive college credit.
The 2013 AP Honor Schools are named in five categories, based on the results of 2012 AP classes and exams:
o AP Challenge Schools: Schools of 900 or fewer students with students testing in four of the core areas (English, math, science and social studies)
o AP Access and Support Schools: Schools with at least 30 percent of their 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
o AP Merit Schools: Schools with at least 20 percent of the student population taking AP exams and at least 50 percent of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher
o 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 B, AP physics C and AP computer science)
o 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 the exam scores on AP math and AP science exams earning scores of three or higher