Walton County School District achieves record high AP scores

(Monroe, Ga.) — Based on College Board’s 2018 Advanced Placement (AP) scores, all three Walton County high schools outperformed the state on Advanced Placement exams while increasing total district participation. Seventy-one percent of Walton County students scored a 3 or higher on this year’s exams, outscoring the state by 10 percent.

Walnut Grove High School showed the most improvement nearly doubling participation (79 AP students in 2017 to 143 in 2018) while increasing the pass rate from 52 to 69 percent. Monroe Area High School continued its four-year streak of outperforming the state and showed marked improvement in AP biology. Loganville High School students passed AP exams at the impressive rate of 75 percent.

AP courses allow students to earn college credit through rigorous college-level work in a high school or online setting. During the 2017-18 school year, 495 students across all three high schools were enrolled in 18 different AP courses. The Walton County School District offers an average of 12 AP courses on campus per year, but students have access to all 38 courses offered by College Board through Georgia Virtual at no cost.

“We are extremely proud of our students, teachers and administrators for their hard work and outstanding performance during the 2017-18 school year,” said Director of Secondary Curriculum Celeste Cannon. “Advanced Placement continues to be an important part of our comprehensive secondary course offering, providing our students with opportunities to leverage these courses for the creation of competitive transcripts for college admissions.”

Students must take an AP exam at the conclusion of a course in order to earn college credit. The scores are weighted based on free response and multiple choice questions. Final scores are reported on a 5-point scale where students who score 3 or higher are eligible to receive college credit and in some cases exempt introductory college courses.

“I want to commend our students for successfully raising the bar and taking advantage of a challenging program to better prepare themselves for the future,” said Superintendent Nathan Franklin. “I want to also thank our teachers and administrators for their continued leadership and expertise towards this very important program. We look forward to continuing this standard of excellence into the future.”

Walton County School District three-year score summaries are as follows:

The Walton County School District serves around 14,000 students in 15 schools including nine elementary schools, three middle schools and three high schools. The mission of the Walton County School District is to ensure that each student acquires the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve personal success and enrich the community. The district values students as individuals with unique intellectual, physical, social and emotional needs. For more information, please visit www.walton.k12.ga.us.