Rockdale County High School named AP Honor School

CONYERS, GA– Rockdale County High School has been named a 2022 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor School by Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods. The distinction is one that the  Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) has achieved for more than 12 consecutive years.

Rockdale County Superintendent Terry Oatts applauded students and staff for the accomplishment.

“I am extremely proud of the work of our students, teachers, administrators, and support staff for making this AP Honor School list in four different categories,” said Oatts.  “They understand the importance and the benefits of advanced learning opportunities which will be invaluable for the students who wish to pursue higher education after graduation. As a district, we are increasing AP participation, AP course offerings, and AP exam achievement to afford the same benefits to a broader range of students. Congratulations to all.”

Rockdale County High School was recognized in the AP Access and Support, AP Humanities, AP STEM, and AP STEM Achievement categories.

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 2019 to May 2020 and a minimum of 25 students testing in May 2019.

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.

AP STEM Schools – Schools with a minimum of five students testing in at least four AP STEM 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 Computer Science Principles).

AP STEM Achievement Schools – AP STEM schools (see above definition) with at least 50 percent of all AP STEM exams earning scores of 3 or higher.

Pictured above: RCPS Superintendent Dr. Terry Oatts