AHS, CHS and PHS earn AP honors

Media release: Armuchee High, Coosa High and Pepperell High were among a select group of high schools in the state to receive AP honors today in a release from the Georgia Department of Education and the College Board.  The three Floyd County high schools were honored as AP Challenge Schools while Pepperell High also made the honors list for AP STEM Schools.  Advanced Placement (AP) classes and exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP classes offer rigorous college-level learning options to students in high school. Students who receive a score of 3, 4 or 5 on AP exams may receive college credit. 

The AP Challenge honor is given to schools with 900 or fewer students that have students testing in the four core areas of English, math, social studies and science.  The AP STEM Schools designation is given to schools with students testing in at least two (2) AP math courses and two (2) AP science courses.  Information for the award was based on data from the 2010-2011 school year. 

Floyd County high schools have been regular honorees in the AP awards for the last several years because Floyd County high schools are offering the challenging, advanced academic course work necessary to allow graduates to succeed in college.  Floyd County has made the commitment to be a leader in Advanced Placement courses offered to students.  The move to a more extensive offering of advanced courses for students in Floyd County Schools began with the introduction of the Honors College Prep Program in the fall of 2002.  This advanced program of study for students in Floyd County Schools is among the top college preparatory programs in Northwest Georgia. The comprehensive, rigorous, advanced program of study is designed to prepare students for the most demanding college or university.  Honors College Prep is available at all four Floyd County high schools. Students completing this program are "guaranteed" ready for college. The expansion of Advanced Placement class offerings was a major component in raising the level of academic opportunities available to students in Floyd County.   "Offering these advanced classes is not always easy in small community schools such as ours," stated George Bevels, chair of the Floyd County Board of Education. "Our board has made a commitment to provide the very best educational opportunities for our children and our schools are making it happen."   

The state of Georgia has undertaken many efforts to increase participation in AP programs in recent years to increase the rigor in courses available to students across the state.  One initiative is the AP Challenge recognition for schools making the commitment to provide the advanced courses for students.  Floyd County Schools was the first system in the state to implement local distance learning classrooms.  These hi-tech classrooms allow a teacher in one school to teach students located in all four high schools at one time via video and computer connection.  The new technology has opened doors for an increased selection of advanced academic courses at every high school.  Instead of a school being able to offer only one foreign language each high school can now offer multiple languages, including Latin.   "These AP honors for our schools is the result of the commitment of our community, our board and our schools to provide the very best educational opportunities for the children of Floyd County," said Dr. Lynn Plunkett, superintendent of Floyd County Schools. "We offer the best of both worlds in the education of the children as we offer the very best advanced academic offerings while maintaining our community high schools that afford more personal attention."