MOULTRIE, Ga. — Twenty-six Colquitt County High School students were named AP Scholars by College Board in recognition of their exceptional performance on Advanced Placement (AP) exams this past May. (Note: Grade distinctions below are from the 2016-2017 school year.)

Seniors Will Barber and Teresa Nguyen qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.

Senior Maddie Kline and junior Rebecca Viohl were named AP Scholars with Honor for earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.

Twenty-two additional students qualified as AP Scholars by completing three or more AP exams with scores of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are seniors Evelyn Fagan, Uriah Fulghum, Gabi Lirio, Joseph Manning, Annie Murphy, Karen Ramirez Rubio, Rebekah Rutledge, Erin Smith, Hayden Suggs, Bailey Thomas, and Macy Ward; juniors Ramya Aikens, Kelsee Brady, Elizabeth Funderburk, Patti Mitchell, Zachary Moncrief, James Moore, Eva Portillo, Ashlyn Thompson, and Brandon Yates; and sophomores Lillian Fagan and Samuel Kundi.

The College Board’s AP program provides willing and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school and earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP exams, according to a press release from the Colquitt County School System.

AP exams are developed by university faculty and AP teachers, ensuring that AP exams are aligned with the same high standards expected by college faculty at some of the nation’s leading liberal arts and research institutions. More than 3,600 colleges and universities annually receive AP scores. Most four-year colleges in the United States provide credit, advanced placement or both for qualifying exam scores.

Research consistently shows that AP students who score a 3 or higher on AP Exams (based on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest) typically experience greater academic success in college and have higher college graduation rates than students who do not participate in AP, the school system said.

In the 2017-2018 school year, local students will have access to 20 different AP courses at Colquitt County High School and C.A. Gray Junior High School. New this school year are: Computer Science Principles, U.S. Government and Politics, and Research, which is the second course in the AP Capstone program. Last year, Colquitt County High School was the only school south of Macon to offer AP Capstone.

Additionally, students can take Biology, Calculus AB, Chemistry, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Environmental Science, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics I, Physics II, Psychology, Seminar, Spanish Language and Culture, Spanish Literature and Culture, Statistics, U.S. History, and World History.

The system is also making plans to offer Latin, Music Theory, and Studio Art in the next few years, the school system said.