Gilmer High has been recognized by the state as an advanced placement honor school.
The Georgia Department of Education named 239 AP Honor Schools across eight categories in a press release from last Thursday, March 31.
“We are committed to expand-ing opportunities for Georgia students, including in advanced and accelerated coursework,” state superintendent Dr. Richard Woods said in the release. “I offer my sincere congratulations to each of this year’s AP Honor Schools, and thank each teacher, student, and school leader who worked hard to create strong AP opportunities in these Georgia schools.”
AP Honor Schools are named based on results of AP courses and exams. GHS was recognized as an “AP STEM School.” STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and GHS met the requirment of “a minimum of five students testing in at least four AP STEM courses.”
GHS was last recognized as an AP STEM School in 2020. Principal Carla Foley noted that expanding AP opportunities to more than just upperclassmen has been a priority.
“As we’ve been laying our course sequences for students in ninth through 12th grade, we’ve been really purposeful in offering AP classes at each grade level,” said Foley, who is in her last week on the job as she prepares to become the CEO of the new Gilmer College and Career Academy.
“We wanted everybody to have that opportunity to take AP classes so it’s not just an opportunity for juniors and seniors. We’ve been purposely trying to implement it so kids are given that opportunity at every grade level.”
Students who achieve a three, four or five on an end of course AP exam may receive college credit. Foley said there are typically 15-17 students in each AP class.
“It’s really important for people to know that we offer some really high rigor courses for students to take,” Foley said. “We’re thinking about our students who are college bound and providing different opportunities for them to take courses that are considered to be more rigorous like AP chemistry or AP calculus.”
Students may also earn college credits through dual enrollment. Foley noted that when the Gilmer College and Career Academy opens its doors in fall 2022, some courses may be streamlined.
“The idea of the college and career academy is to provide different opportunities,” she said. “Sometimes there is some overlap between courses that we offer AP wise and ones offered through dual enrollment. I think we just need to be careful that we’re not always offering the same things for kids (in both pathways).
“We’re trying to meet the needs of all our students whether they’re going to a four-year college or a technical school and making sure they can get college credit when they’re in high school and offering that in different ways. Some of that is through AP, and some of that is through dual enrollment.”