It appears Bryan County Schools stacks up pretty well in terms of advanced-placement courses available to its high-school students.
The system, with an enrollment of about 8,200, has roughly 3,000 fewer students than neighboring Effingham County, for example, yet had the same number of students taking AP tests last spring, Bryan County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Brooksher told members of the Bryan County School Board last week at a work session.
“And if you look at the number of exams, we actually offer the most exams out of every school system (in the area) except Chatham County, and Chatham County has 35,000 students,” Brooksher said. “We’re really pushing that capacity to stretch the advanced-placement offerings, because many students can be very successful in the classes.”
In all, 385 students from Bryan County Schools took 714 advanced placement tests in May, according to data provided by the Georgia Department of Education. Those students scored a 3 or higher — the tests are scaled from 1 to 5 — on 59 percent of the exams.
By contrast, 387 students in Effingham County took 684 tests, scoring 3 or better on 323 tests.
Julie Howard, who is coordinator of teaching and learning for Bryan County Schools, said local students were enrolled in 19 different AP courses last year.  
“These classes are college-level courses taught at the high school, where content criteria are established by College Board,” Howard said in an email. “A score of 3 or higher out of 5 generally indicates that the student has the ability to perform at a college level at that course.”
What’s more, students who take AP classes may be exempt from classes in college and can earn college credit, and Howard said they stand out in college admissions “by showing a commitment to rigorous coursework.”
Howard said students can check on classes by searching the AP credit policy online at apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement/search-credit-policies.
For more information on the College Board and AP, go to collegeboard.com/apcentral.