Clarke Central and Cedar Shoals high schools have once again been named Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools by the Georgia Department of Education, reflecting the district’s continued commitment to providing students with engaging, challenging, and relevant learning experiences and ensuring they have the opportunity to graduate high school prepared for college, careers, and a successful future.
For the second consecutive year, Clarke Central earned a designation in six of the seven applicable AP Honor School categories — including AP School of Distinction — in a list released by State School Superintendent Richard Woods last week, while Cedar Shoals was named in three of the categories. The designations are based on the results of the 2025 AP exams taken last spring.
AP Schools of Distinction are recognized for having at least 20% of the student body take AP exams, with at least 50% of those exams having a passing grade (3-5 on a 1-5 grading scale). Clarke Central was also named an AP STEM School and AP STEM Achievement School. STEM schools have at least five students test in at least four separate AP courses in the areas of math, science, and computer science, with a minimum of 25 total exams administered. STEM Achievement schools have at least 50% of those exams result in scores of 3 or higher.
Clarke Central and Cedar Shoals both received designations as AP Humanities schools and AP Humanities Achievement schools. AP Humanities schools administer at least five exams in each of the following categories: one English Language Arts course, two social studies courses, one fine arts course, and one world language course, with a minimum of 25 total exams administered. AP Humanities Achievement schools have at least 50% of those exams graded at 3 or higher.
Both schools were also once again named AP Access and Support schools, an honor they have each earned the last several consecutive years for having at least 30% of their AP exams taken by students who identified themselves as African American and/or Hispanic (minimum of 16 total students) and having at least 30% of those exam-takers earn a score of 3 or higher, with a minimum of 25 exams administered.
In all, CCSD had 683 individual students combine to take 1,142 AP exams in May 2025 with an overall pass rate of 69.8%.
“These recognitions reflect both our students and their teachers' commitment to raising the bar in pursuit of excellence in CCSD," said Dr. Jennifer Scott, Interim Superintendent. “We are proud of Clarke Central and Cedar Shoals for continuing to hold our students to high expectations to ensure that they are prepared for their journey beyond high school."
AP exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP courses are one of several ways Georgia students can access college-level learning at the high school level; students who receive a 3, 4, or 5 on an AP exam may receive college course credits. GaDOE began recognizing AP Honor Schools in 2008.