GCS Special Friday Notes from the Superintendent

August 29 , 2007

2006-2007 Guilford County Schools’ Advanced Placement Results

The College Board recently released Guilford County Schools’ (GCS) 2006-07 Advanced Placement (AP) results. During the past school year, GCS students took over 10 percent of all AP exams given in North Carolina.  We’re proud to announce that 4,278 GCS students took 8,393 AP exams.   Each of these categories represents all-time highs for the district. Of the exams taken, 46.5 percent were scored at “3,” “4,” or “5”.  We have made tremendous strides in increasing the number of high school students taking AP courses and exams since the 1999-00 school year when 1,715 students took 2,864 exams, with 52 percent of those exams being scored at a “3” or higher.

The following chart provides an overview of the number of students taking AP courses, the number of AP exams taken and the number and percentage of exams scored at a “3” or higher in each of our high schools for the 2006-07 school year.

To help celebrate our student’s success, the district recently hosted its sixth annual Crown Automotive “Cool to Be Smart” AP/IB Diploma awards program at the Greensboro Coliseum Pavilion. Graduating AP students who took five or more AP courses and scored three or higher on their AP exams were presented with a Guilford County Schools’ AP Diploma.   Seniors who met International Baccalaureate (IB) standards and requirements were presented with an IB Diploma. Graduating seniors with a combination of five AP or IB courses with passing grades on their exams were presented with a Guilford County Schools’ AP/IB Certificate.  

During the celebration, five laptop computers, five $2,500 college scholarships, one $1,500 scholarship and a new car were given away as door prizes.  All prizes were provided by our corporate sponsors—Crown Automotive, Harris Teeter and the Visiting International Faculty.  Diplomas and certificates were provided by North Carolina Graduate Services.               
  
Please join me in congratulating our AP/IB students and their teachers, administrators and families for a job well done.  For more information on the district's 2006-07 IB results, please refer to the
July 20, 2007 edition of Friday Notes. We are very fortunate to have a business community and a board of education that values increasing academic rigor for our students.

In Guilford County Schools, AP/IB is for the prepared— not the elite.  You may call me at 370-8992, should you have questions.

Please join me in congratulating our entire school community for a job well done.