Putnam County High School received three Advanced Placement (AP) School honors on Feb. 16, a press release from State School Superintendent Richard Woods stated.
Last year, PCHS received only one AP School honor, showing the school’s advanced-placement offerings have significantly expanded.
AP exams are administered by the College Board and AP courses give students access to college-level learning at the high school level. Students who receive a 3, 4, or 5 on an AP exam may receive college credit. The Georgia Department of Education began recognizing AP Honor Schools in 2008.
The 2023 AP Honor Schools are named in eight categories based on the results of 2022 AP courses and exams. This year, PCHS was named an AP Access & Support School, AP Challenge School, and an AP Expansion School.
“At PCHS we are continuing to push rigor by expanding our AP offerings at the school and continue to encourage students to challenge themselves by participating in AP classes.
The AP Honors that we received are proof of the hard work of our students and teachers,” said PCHS Principal Andrew Cooper.
According to a press release, an AP Access & Support School has at least 30% of AP exams taken by students who identified as African American or Hispanic and 30% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher in 2022. The AP Challenge acknowledgment refers to schools with enrollments of 900 or fewer students and students testing in English, math, science, and social studies. Finally, the AP Expansion honor refers to AP schools with a 25% growth in AP student participation from May 2021 to May 2022 and a minimum of 25 students testing in May 2020.
“Our teachers are continuing to volunteer for professional learning for continuous improvement in these rigorous classes and our students have been willing to challenge themselves. We are very proud of these honors and want to continue this improvement which is better preparing students for college coursework,” said Cooper.
A total of 273 Advanced Placement Honor Schools from 97 school districts were honored for 2023.
Cooper said he is very proud of the school’s growth and the hard work of all the teachers and students who have challenged themselves through Advanced Placement.
“I sincerely congratulate each of this year’s AP Honor Schools on their achievement,” said Woods in the press release announcing the AP School honors. “Additionally, I thank each teacher, student, and school- and district-level administrator for their diligent work creating strong AP opportunities in these 273 Georgia schools.”