Superintendent Barge Names Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools

Two Whitfield County High Schools earned recognition from the Georgia Department of Education as 2012 AP Honor Schools.

Northwest Whitfield High School is an AP STEM School and AP STEM Achievement School (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Southeast Whitfield High School is an AP Access and Support School.

State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge yesterday named 367 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools as the Georgia Board of Education proclaimed today, Wednesday, Feb. 8, as AP Day. 

"Georgia has much to be proud of when it comes to the success of Advanced Placement," Superintendent Barge said. "Much of this success can be attributed to the dedication to rigor and excellence at each of our AP Honor Schools." 

Advanced Placement (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 2012 AP Honor Schools are named in five categories, based on the results of 2011 AP classes and exams: 

• AP CHALLENGE SCHOOLS: Schools of 900 or fewer students with students testing in four of the core areas (English, math, science, and social studies) 
• AP ACCESS & SUPPORT SCHOOLS: Schools with at least 30% of their AP exams taken by students who identified themselves as African- American and/or Hispanic and 30% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher. 
• AP MERIT SCHOOLS: Schools with at least 20% of the student population taking AP exams and at least 50% of all AP exams earning scores of three (3) or higher 
• AP STEM SCHOOLS: Schools with students testing in at least two (2) AP math courses and two (2) AP science courses (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics B, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science) 
• AP STEM ACHIEVEMENT SCHOOLS: Schools with students testing in at least 2 AP math courses and 2 AP science courses and at least 40% of the exam scores on AP math and AP science exams earning scores of three (3) or higher 

AP Day in Georgia 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012, has been designated by the State Board of Education as AP Day in Georgia. This date coincides with the College Board’s release of the 2011 AP Report to the Nation.