COVINGTON, Ga. — All three Newton County School System high schools—Alcovy, Eastside and Newton—were recently named 2023 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools by Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods. 

All three schools were recognized as AP STEM schools this year. 

In addition, Eastside and Newton were named AP Expansion Schools and Newton High School was also named a 2023 AP Humanities School. 

According to the Georgia Department of Education, AP STEM schools are schools with a minimum of five students testing in at least four AP STEM courses (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles). 

AP Humanities schools are schools with at least five students testing in each of the following AP Categories—one ELA course, two history/social science courses, one fine arts course and one world language course. 

And AP Expansion Schools are schools with 25% growth in AP student participation from May 2021 to May 2022 and a minimum of 25 students testing in May 2020.

“Congratulations to Alcovy, Eastside, and Newton for being named AP Honor Schools,” said Samantha Fuhrey, superintendent of Newton County Schools.

“Our goal is to offer a wide variety of AP courses to not only expose students to the rigorous coursework they can expect in college but also allow them the opportunity to gain college credit in the process. 

“We currently offer 23 different AP courses and continue to work to identify ways to expand and provide additional opportunities for our students with the goal that any high school student interested in enrolling in a collegiate-level course has the access and opportunity to do so.” 

“The number of AP Honor Schools increased by more than 14%, which serves as a testament to our commitment to expand opportunities for Georgia students, including in advanced and accelerated coursework,” Woods said. 

Advanced Placement (AP) classes and exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP classes offer rigorous college-level learning options to students in high school. Students who receive a 3, 4, or 5 on AP exams may receive college credit.