Conyers, GA – Heritage (HHS), Rockdale County (RCHS) and Salem (SHS) high schools, along with Rockdale Career Academy (RCA), were named 2014 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools by Georgia State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge.

“I congratulate our students, teachers and administrators for this outstanding recognition,” says Superintendent Richard Autry. “Each year we have increased our AP offerings throughout the district which our students have clearly embraced as part of their academic pathway to graduation and higher education. We have also focused on providing additional support to ensure students are successful in these high rigor courses and can take advantage of the college credit that may be obtained with high AP test scores. This recognition further supports our vision for providing enhanced options to our students to ensure they have a competitive advantage upon their entrance into the workforce and/or higher education.”

All four schools were named in the AP STEM Schools category. Rockdale County high School was also named in the AP STEM Achievement, AP Merit, and AP Access and Support 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 three, four or five on the AP exams may receive college credit. RCPS offers AP courses at every high
school, including the Rockdale Career Academy and Virtual Campus. Examples of courses include: U.S. History, World History, Economics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics, American Literature, World Literature and Art.

The 2014 AP Honor Schools are named in five categories:

  • 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 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 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 CHALLENGE SCHOOLS: Schools of 900 or fewer students with students testing in four of the core areas (English, math, science, and social studies)