Both North Oconee High School and Oconee County High School have once again received the GreatSchools “College Success Award” for college preparedness and college achievement among their graduates. GreatSchools, a national nonprofit, selected Oconee County as the only county system in Northeast Georgia to have schools selected for this honor.

“We appreciate being recognized by GreatSchools once again for the systemwide commitment of teachers, support staff, and leaders at all levels to prepare students for post-secondary success,” said Superintendent Jason Branch. “This honor acknowledges that our students achieve excellence while enrolled in our system, as well as in college. The hard work of our students and the support of their families, in addition to our faculty and staff, continues to help Oconee County Schools sustain a high level of excellence.”

This is the second year that GreatSchools has designated high schools across the country as College Success Award recipients. This is the first type of honor to recognize not only college preparedness, but also how well graduates succeed once in college. Less than 1,800 public schools across the nation and only 80 in Georgia were selected for this honor. The award takes into account ACT and SAT scores, the percentage of graduates enrolled in college, the percentage of graduates that do not require remedial courses in college, and the percentage of graduates enrolling in college for the second year.