The Georgia Department of Education has released its list of Advanced Placement Honor Schools for 2020, with 22 Gwinnett County schools making the grade.
Since 2008, the department has recognized AP Honors Schools with only three categories, but since then has gained five more. The categories (which can be found here 2020 Honor Schools Definitions of Categories.pdf) include AP Access and Support Schools, AP Challenge Schools, AP Schools of Distinction, AP Expansion Schools, AP Humanities Schools, AP Humanities Achievement Schools, AP STEM schools and AP Stem Achievement Schools.
The Gwinnett County schools included in these lists are Archer High School, Berkmar High School, Brookwood High School, Central Gwinnett High School, Collins Hill High School, Dacula High School, Discovery High School, Duluth High School, Grayson High School, Gwinnett School of Mathematics Science and Technology, Lanier High School, McClure Health Science High School, Meadowcreek High School, Mill Creek High School, Mountain View High School, Norcross High School, North Gwinnett High School, Parkview High School, Paul Duke STEM High School, Peachtree Ridge High School, Shiloh High School and South Gwinnett High School. (Buford High School is excluded from the list as the school is part of the Buford City School District as opposed to the Gwinnett County Public Schools District). Five of these schools — Archer, Collins Hill, Duluth, Grayson, and Mountain View high schools — made six out of the seven categories listed.
State Superintendent Richard Wood released a statement about the work the Georgia students and staff have done for the 2020 year, saying “I’m proud of Georgia’s students, who continue to record strong performance on advanced placement exams and outperform their peers in other Southern states. I’m also pleased to see the gains made by economically disadvantaged students in Georgia, as we work to ensure all students receive an excellent education.”
Dr. Clay Hunter, GCPS associate superintendent for curriculum and instructional support, said that despite challenges presented by the pandemic, this recognition from the Georgia Department of Education shows how the district’s hard work has paid off.
“In March of last year, our school system faced the challenge of finding new and innovative ways to make sure that our students were able to continue their learning in the midst of a pandemic,” he said. “The fact that 22 of our high schools were recognized by the Georgia Department of Education as Advanced Placement Honor Schools is proof positive that the efforts our teachers, school administrators and district-level support staff were not in vain.”
