All three Bartow County high schools have the distinct honor of being named Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools by the Georgia Department of Education for their commitment to creating strong AP opportunities.
There are 273 AP Honor Schools this year in 97 districts. They are named in eight categories based on the results of 2022 AP courses and exams.
Adairsville High School received the AP STEM School Award and AP Humanities School Award.
Cass High School earned the AP STEM School Award.
Woodland High School gained the AP STEM School Award, AP Humanities School Award, and the AP STEM Achievement School Award.
The following describes the categories in detail:
AP Access and Support Schools
Schools with at least 30% of 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 Challenge Schools
Schools with enrollments of 900 or fewer students and students testing in English, math, science, and social studies.
AP Expansion Schools
AP schools with 25% growth in AP student participation from May 2021 to May 2022 and a minimum of 25 students testing in May 2021.
AP Humanities Schools
Schools with a minimum of five students testing in each of the following AP categories: one ELA course, two history/social science courses, one fine arts course and one world language course.
AP Humanities Achievement Schools
AP Humanities schools (see above definition) with at least 50% of all AP Humanities exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
AP Schools of Distinction
Schools with at least 20% of the total student population taking AP exams and at least 50% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
AP STEM Schools
Schools with a minimum of five students testing in at least four AP STEM courses. (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles)
AP STEM Achievement Schools
AP STEM schools (see above definition) with at least 50% of all AP STEM exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
“We are very proud of the continued work of our AP teachers and students,” said AHS Principal Lexie Bultman. “Their efforts to grow our AP program in both quality of instruction and expansion to all students has been inspiring. Our teachers have truly used collaborative efforts to best prepare students for college and life beyond the high school experience. And our students have responded in a big way, rising to the challenge of college-level work while in high school. We look forward to seeing continued improvements in our AP program and witnessing how this will benefit our students in their long-term goals.”
“We are very proud of our students’ continued commitment to seeking out academically rigorous course work, especially in our STEM areas,” said CHS Magnet Coordinator Micaela Armona. “Next year, we will be offering even more courses such as AP Music Theory, and we are expanding our AP Fine Arts opportunities by adding AP Art History. Our goal is that every student takes at least one AP course before they graduate. With the addition of AP Art History and AP Pre-Calculus, Cass students will have 23 AP courses from which to choose. We are seeing a growth in the success of our AP program with an increase this year in the number of students designated by College Board as AP Scholars and an increase in the number of teachers designated by Bartow County as AP Teachers of Distinction. This growth is a direct result of our collaborative process and the emphasis we have placed on increasing the academic rigor in all our courses.”
“We are honored by all three AP Honor Awards, especially AP STEM Achievement,” said WHS AP Coordinator Mary Beth Tumlin. “AP courses are the most rigorous courses at the high school level and this honor shows the hard work and commitment of our students and staff to learn and achieve at the highest levels. Six of our eight STEM courses had a pass rate above 50%, with three of those courses having a pass rate above 85%.”
Each high school will be honored for its achievements at the Bartow County Board of Education meeting on May 15, 2023.