Henry County Schools high schools placed in seven of eight categories on the Georgia Department of Education’s (GaDOE) recently released 2025 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools list.
Henry County 2025 AP Honor Schools
State Superintendent Richard Woods named 301 AP Honor Schools from 104 Georgia school districts based on 2024 College Board® AP course and exam performance. Nine HCS high schools were among the schools recognized, as follows:
- Ola High School was named in six categories.
- Union Grove High School and Woodland High School were each named in five categories.
- Dutchtown High School and Luella High School were each named in three categories.
- Hampton High School, Locust Grove High School, and Stockbridge High School were each named in two categories.
- Eagle’s Landing High School was named in one category.
The AP program offers college-level courses to high school students who may receive college credit by scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on an AP exam on a 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the highest score.
“We are proud of our schools’ continued work in advancing opportunities, access, and outcomes by strategically increasing enrollment in AP courses,” said Chief Learning and Performance Officer Dr. Cleveland Johnson III. “Participation in AP courses enhances students’ college readiness and will empower them along their postsecondary journey.”
GaDOE began recognizing AP Honor Schools in 2008 in three categories, increasing to eight by 2020. The following highlights the seven categories in which HCS high schools were named:
AP Access and Support Schools
AP Access and Support Schools have at least 30% of AP exams taken by students who identified as African American and/or Hispanic (minimum of 16 students) and 30% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher. At least 25 exams must be administered.
- Nine HCS high schools were named AP Access and Support Schools: Dutchtown High School, Eagle’s Landing High School, Hampton High School, Locust Grove High School, Luella High School, Ola High School, Stockbridge High School, Union Grove High School, and Woodland High School
- All nine high schools were also named in this category last year.
AP Expansion Schools
AP Expansion Schools demonstrated 25% growth in AP student participation from May 2023 to May 2024, with a minimum of 25 students testing in May 2023.
- Six HCS high schools were named AP Expansion Schools: Dutchtown High School, Hampton High School, Luella High School, McDonough High School, Stockbridge High School, and Union Grove High School
- Dutchtown was also named in this category last year.
AP Humanities Schools
AP Humanities Schools administered at least five exams in each of the following AP categories: one ELA course, two social studies courses, one fine arts course, and one world language course, and a minimum of 25 total exams administered.
- Ola High School and Woodland High School were named AP Humanities Schools and were two of the three HCS high schools named in this category last year.
AP Humanities Achievement Schools
AP Humanities Achievement Schools meet the same criteria as AP Humanities Schools, with at least 50% of all AP Humanities exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
- Ola High School and Woodland High School were named AP Humanities and Achievement Schools and were among the three HCS high schools recognized in this category last year.
AP Schools of Distinction
AP Schools of Distinction had at least 20% of the total student enrollment taking AP exams, and at least 50% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
- Ola High School and Union Grove High School were named AP Schools of Distinction.
- Ola and Union Grove are the first HCS schools to receive this recognition.
AP STEM Schools
AP STEM Schools administered at least five exams in each of four separate AP STEM courses (math, science, and computer science), with at least 25 total exams administered.
- Six HCS high schools were named AP STEM Schools: Dutchtown High School, Locust Grove High School, Luella High School, Ola High School, Union Grove High School, and Woodland High School
- Dutchtown, Ola, Union Grove, and Woodland were also named in this category last year.
AP STEM Achievement Schools
AP STEM Achievement Schools meet the same criteria as AP STEM Schools, with at least 50% of all AP STEM exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
- Ola High School, Union Grove High School, and Woodland High School were named AP STEM Achievement Schools.
- Ola and Union Grove were also recognized in this category last year.
District Achievements
Based on College Board AP reports released last September, HCS students continue to demonstrate growth in AP performance, as indicated by enrollment, the total number of test takers, and the total number of exams taken.
HCS saw increases at the district and school level, with meaningful gains in the following areas:
- A total of 2,889 students enrolled in AP courses in 2024, representing a 16.54% increase over the enrollment in 2023.
- The district average for the total number of discrete students who took at least one AP exam increased by 19.73%.
- Nine schools demonstrated increases in total test takers, with Hampton High School (+118.42%) and Stockbridge High School (+115.09%) showing the most significant gains over 2023.
- HCS also saw growth (+17.45%) in the total number of AP exams taken by all students, increasing from 2,355 in 2023 to 2,766 in 2024.
- The total number of AP exams taken increased in nine schools, with Hampton High School (+94%) and Stockbridge High School (+92.42%) demonstrating marked gains.
- There was districtwide growth (+28.81%) in exams with scores of 3 or better. Nine schools saw an increase in exams with scores of 3 or better, with Stockbridge High School (+73.91%), Union Grove High School (+54.67%), and Ola High School (+20.43%) showing the most notable increases.
- The percentage of exams with scores of 3 or better increased by 5.1 percentage points districtwide. At the school level, the Academy for Advanced Studies (+25.6), Woodland High School (+17.8), Ola High School (+10.5), Locust Grove High School (+9.6), and Union Grove High School (+9.1) also saw increases in the percentage of exams with scores of 3 or better.
- There was an increase in the total exams taken in nine courses with noteworthy increases in Macroeconomics (+27.03%), Physics I (+24.32%), US Government (+23.94%), Biology (+21.43%), World History: Modern (+19.67%), English Language and Composition (+16.29%), and a district average increase of 17.06%.
- The district introduced Precalculus as an AP course in 2024, with 129 total exams taken in the first year.
- The overall percentage of core AP course exams that earned credit increased from 53.8% to 57.2%.
- The percentage of students who earned college credit increased from 51.8% to 56.9%.
Superintendent’s Comments
“We are proud of the school and districtwide gains and to see all our high schools demonstrate some measure of improvement in AP exam performance,” said Superintendent Dr. John Pace III. “I commend our students and teachers for their hard work and applaud our collaborative efforts to ensure student success. Central to providing a high-quality, world-class education for every learner is a commitment to rigorous analysis and continuous improvement to enable a high-performance culture. Through our ambitious ‘Pursuit of Exceptional,’ we look forward to even more gains across all data points in future assessments.”
Press release reprinted from Henry County Schools. Featured image shows the Henry County Schools district office. Henry County Schools photo.