College Board Honors Three Alpharetta, Milton High Schools

Eleven Fulton County high schools were designated as "AP Honor Schools" by the College Board, including three in Alpharetta and Milton.

Wednesday, Feb. 8 was AP Day in Georgia, the date when the organization in charge of Advanced Placement and the SAT announced its annual list of high-performing high schools.

 The 2012 awards are based on the Class of 2011’s testing results and are grouped into five categories: AP Merit Schools, AP STEM Schools, AP STEM Achievement Schools, AP Challenge Schools, and AP Access and Support Schools. The STEM categories recognize high schools with achievement in AP Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics courses.

 “These awards are validation that our high schools are encouraging students to challenge themselves and meet college-level expectations,” said Superintendent Robert Avossa. “Advanced Placement courses provide extra rigor to high-achieving students and help prepare them for a college environment. I couldn’t be more pleased to see so many schools named on these lists.”

AP Merit Schools

Nine Fulton schools received recognition as AP Merit Schools, the most of any school system in Georgia. The AP Merit distinction recognizes those with at least 20 percent of students taking AP exams and with at least half of those exams receiving a score of 3 or higher. Each of the schools have received this distinction for five consecutive years except Johns Creek High School, which is a newcomer to the list.

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• Centennial High School
• Chattahoochee High School
• Johns Creek High School
• North Springs Charter High School
• Northview High School
• Riverwood International Charter School
• Roswell High School

AP STEM Schools

All nine schools named as AP Merit Schools also were named AP STEM Schools, a category that recognizes schools with students testing in at least two AP math courses and two AP science courses. New to the AP Honor Schools list, Fulton Science Academy High School, was recognized for high math and science achievement, and Westlake High School was highlighted for a second consecutive year.

• Alpharetta High School
• Centennial High School
• Chattahoochee High School
• Johns Creek High School
• Milton High School
• North Springs Charter High School
• Northview High School
• Riverwood International Charter School
• Roswell High School
• Westlake High School

AP STEM Achievement Schools

AP STEM Achievement Schools go beyond the AP STEM Schools category to recognize schools that have at least 40% of math and science test-takers earning scores of 3 or higher. In Fulton, 10 received the distinction.

• Alpharetta High School
• Centennial High School
• Chattahoochee High School
• Fulton Science Academy High School
• Johns Creek High School
• Milton High School
• North Springs Charter High School
• Northview High School
• Riverwood International Charter School
• Roswell High School

AP Challenge Schools

Fulton Science Academy High School, which was formerly known as TEACH, was the only school in Fulton County to be named an AP Challenge School, a distinction that recognizes schools with fewer than 900 students offering AP classes in core content areas.