District High Schools Obtain AP STEM, Achievement Status

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All Cherokee County School District high schools have been named AP (Advanced Placement) STEM Schools and AP STEM Achievement Schools for the third consecutive year, the district said on Thursday.

The AP STEM School designation, which is awarded by the Georgia Department of Education, recognizes high school schools that test students in at least two AP math courses and two AP science courses; the AP STEM Achievement School designation recognizes schools where at least 40 percent of those test-takers earn a score of 3 or higher.

The challenging college-level course exams are scored from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score; most colleges and universities require a score of at least 3 in order for students to receive course credit. Only 121 high schools in the state earned the AP STEM Achievement School designation; 198 earned the AP STEM School designation.

Creekview High School additionally has been named an AP Merit School, which recognizes high schools where at least 20 percent of the student population takes an AP exam and at least 50 percent of those scores are 3 or higher; only 57 schools statewide earned this designation.

Four district high schools have earned the State’s newest designation – AP Humanities School, which began this school year to recognize high schools that offer at least one AP English language arts course, two AP social sciences courses, one AP fine arts course and one AP world language course. Those are: Cherokee, River Ridge, Sequoyah and Woodstock high schools; 113 schools in Georgia earned this designation.

“Advanced Placement classes are the most challenging high school courses available to students here at home and across the country, and these new state designations show that we are committed to offering students every opportunity to excel and they are excelling beyond expectations,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo said. “We are dedicated to preparing every student for future success, and opportunities to study college-level material and earn college credit while still in high school put them ahead of their peers both academically and financially.”

Cherokee County schools offers AP courses and exams in 24 subjects; all district high schools offer at least 18 different exams, with each school’s selection based on student demand. With a passage rate of 76 percent among the 3,424 tests administered in the spring of 2014, the district ranks second out of Georgia’s 180 school systems (behind only Bremen City Schools, which administered 98 tests), according to the Georgia DOE. The district passage rate also exceeds both the national rate of 59 percent and the state rate of 56 percent.

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