Rockdale County Public Schools earn AP honor distinction for over 14 years

CONYERS, GA– Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) high schools were named Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools by Georgia’s School Superintendent Richard Woods, a distinction Rockdale has achieved for more than 14 consecutive years.

Heritage and Rockdale County high schools were named AP Access and Support Schools, while Rockdale County High School also made the lists for AP STEM and AP STEM Achievement. Heritage High School was named an AP Expansion School.

RCPS Superintendent Terry Oatts praised the  schools for their continued academic success.

“I am extremely proud of our high schools represented on the AP Honor Schools lists. We continue to increase the number of students taking AP courses and receiving college credit through the College Board AP exams. We also had a record number of students named AP Scholars in 2023, the highest number of AP Scholars in several years for Rockdale County Public Schools,” Oatts said. “This is a testament to the great work of our students, teachers, administrators, and support staff for keeping advanced academics a priority and moving toward our vision of achieving greater equity in expanding these opportunities within our schools.”

Rockdale County Board of Education Chairwoman Pam Brown echoed Oatts’ sentiments.

“Congratulations to all our students, teachers, and staff for these AP honors! These high schools being named AP Honor Schools illustrates our commitment to providing opportunities for all students to learn and achieve at a level that best prepares them for higher education and a bright future,” Brown stated.

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% of AP exams taken by students who identified as African American and/or Hispanic (minimum of 16 students) and 30% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher. At least 25 exams must be administered.

AP Challenge Schools – Schools with enrollments of 900 or fewer students and exams administered in English, math, science, and social studies and a minimum of 25 total exams administered.

AP Expansion Schools – AP schools with 25% growth in AP student participation from May 2022 to May 2023 and a minimum of 25 students testing in May 2022.

AP Humanities Schools – Schools with at least five exams administered in each of the following AP categories: one ELA course, two social studies courses, one fine arts course, and one world language course and a minimum of 25 total exams administered.

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

AP Schools of Distinction – Schools with at least 20% of the total student population taking AP exams and at least 50% of all AP 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, and a minimum of 25 exams administered.

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