For the third year in a row, Oconee County Schools has been named to the College Board Advanced Placement District Honor Roll.

"It's a credit to the teachers, K-12, and the challenges they have for our students," Scott Gordon, Secondary Director for Teaching and Learning, told the Oconee County Board of Education at a work session Monday. "It's also due to the high school administrators who spend hours trying to create those opportunities for AP.  It's thanks to the parents who demand the best out of our schools, thanks to the school board for supporting the program, and, finally, thanks to the AP teachers who work so hard."

The recognition is given to school districts that simultaneously increased access to AP courses while maintaining or improving the rate at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP exam, according to the College Board.

Gordon said Oconee County Schools has increased the number of students taking exams by 80 percent over the last five years while maintaining a 70 or greater percent of students who achieve a 3 or higher on exams (see chart). That compares nationally to 57 percent and 54 percent in Georgia, he explained.

Only 539 systems were named out of about 14,000 school districts in the U.S. and Canada, he noted.

"It's a very prestigious award, and I just want to emphasize it's a system award."

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