Fayette County High School and Sandy Creek High School are two of the 80 high schools in Georgia named as Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools by the Georgia Department of Education.

The two schools made the list in the AP Access and Support Schools category, meaning that at least 30 percent of test takers were African-American or Hispanic and 30 percent of all AP exams earned a score of three or higher.

The state based the 2008 AP Honor Schools on 2007-2008 test data. This data shows that more Fayette students are participating in AP courses and the number of students passing has also increased. A total of 1,132 students took the test in 2007 compared to 1,014 in 2006 – an increase of 11.7 percent. In 2007, 1,264 students passed the test compared to 1,135 in 2006 – an increase of 11.4 percent.

Fayette students continue to outscore both the state and nation on the overall pass rate. Fayette’s pass rate is 70 percent – 16.7 percent above the state and 10.7 over the nation.

AP classes and exams are administered by the College Board in May of each year and offer rigorous college-level learning options to students in high school. Students who receive a three, four or five on AP exams can receive college credit.

In 2007, Fayette’s students took 1,806 AP tests.