The Georgia Department of Education recently announced its 2019 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools. Both North Oconee High School and Oconee County High School received the highest accolades for merit and achievement, as well as honors for strong participation in AP Humanities and AP STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) coursework.

“Congratulations to the students of North Oconee and Oconee County High Schools for once again receiving the highest honors for achievement in Advanced Placement courses and exams,” said Superintendent Jason Branch. “Our world-class teachers are also to be commended for preparing our students to engage in this level of rigor and produce exceptional outcomes.”

Both high schools were recognized in the following categories:

-AP Merit School (71 schools named): 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 Humanities School (142 schools named): Schools with students testing in all of the following AP courses: at least one ELA course, two social science courses, one fine arts course, and one world language course

-AP STEM School (200 schools named): Schools with students testing in at least two AP math courses and two 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 STEM Achievement School (128 schools named): Schools with students testing in at least two AP math courses and two 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

The College Board’s AP provides students the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school. Students earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on AP exams.