Athens Reporter

The Georgia Department of Education has recognized East Jackson High School and Jackson County High School as Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools. This announcement was made on Friday.

East Jackson High School received honors in several categories, being named an AP Humanities School, AP Humanities with Achievement School, AP STEM School, and an AP STEM Achievement School. Meanwhile, Jackson County High School was designated as an AP Expansion School, AP Honor School with Distinction, and an AP STEM School.

Both schools offer a variety of advanced placement courses. These courses provide students the opportunity to engage in advanced content and earn college credit through end-of-course exams. This also enhances their college applications.

To be recognized as an AP Humanities School, a school must administer at least five exams across four different content areas with a minimum of 25 total exams administered. The title of AP Humanities with Achievement is awarded when at least 50 percent of all such exams score three or higher out of five.

The criteria for the AP STEM School recognition include administering at least five exams in four separate STEM areas—Math, Science, and Computer Science—with at least 25 exams given. For the STEM Achievement honor, 50 percent of these exams must score at least three.

An AP Honor School with Distinction must have a minimum of 20 percent student enrollment taking AP exams and achieve scores of three or higher on at least 50 percent of those exams. The Expansion School recognition requires a school to demonstrate at least a 25 percent growth in student participation in AP testing and administer tests to at least 25 students. East Jackson earned this distinction last year.