All five of Fayette County’s high schools are earning recognition for the number of Advanced Placement (AP) courses taken by students, and the percentage of students passing the AP exams.
The Georgia Department of Education recently released the AP Honor Schools for 2015 showing the Fayette schools and others in the state receiving similar recognition.
AP courses and exams give students the opportunity to access college-level learning opportunities, and potentially earn college course credits.
Fayette County High, McIntosh High, Sandy Creek High, Starr’s Mill High, and Whitewater High are among the 121 schools in the state making the list for AP STEM Achievement Schools.
These are schools where students are testing in at least two AP math courses and two AP science courses, and at least 40 percent of the exams earn a score of 3 or higher (students must score at least a 3 to potentially receive college credit for a course). The AP courses include calculus AB, calculus BC, statistics, biology, chemistry, environmental science, physics B, physics C, and computer science.
Additionally, all of the county’s high schools are listed as AP STEM schools with students testing in at least two AP math and two AP science courses. A total of 198 schools in the state made the list.
These distinctions are not new for the system’s high schools. In fact, this is the fifth consecutive year that McIntosh, Sandy Creek, Starr’s Mill and Whitewater high schools have made the AP STEM and AP STEM Achievement lists since they were added in 2011. This is the third time Fayette County High has made both lists.
Fayette’s high schools have been included in categories on the AP Honor School list since the recognition began in 2008.
Both Fayette County High and Sandy Creek High made the 2015 list for AP Access and Support Schools. These schools have at least 30 percent of their AP exams taken by students who identify themselves as African-American and/or Hispanic with 30 percent of all exams earning scores of 3 or higher. A total of 55 schools in the state received the distinction. Both Fayette County and Sandy Creek have made the list since 2008.
McIntosh High, Starr’s Mill High, and Whitewater High are listed as AP Merit Schools where at least 20 percent of the student population is taking AP courses with at least 50 percent of the exams earning a score of 3 or higher. Starr’s Mill has been on the list since 2008; McIntosh has made the list since 2012; and Whitewater has been on the list for two consecutive years. A total of 57 high schools in the state earned the distinction for 2015.
A new category has been added this year, AP Humanities Schools. These are schools with students testing in all of the following AP courses: at least one English-language arts course, two social science courses, one fine arts course, and one world language course.
McIntosh, Starr’s Mill, and Whitewater high schools are among the 113 statewide to make the list for AP Humanities Schools.
