Cedar Shoals High School, located in Athens, Georgia allows all students to enroll in its vast offering of Advanced Placement courses. By subsidizing the costs of AP exams for all students and if a student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, the district pays exam costs.
Running a large, non-traditional AP program means that teachers need to be well-prepared and to that end Cedar Shoals High School teachers engage in a variety of professional learning experiences that build expertise and foster collaboration. In partnership with the University of Georgia College of Education, the Clarke County School District is a Professional Development School District that makes connections between research and practice. Cedar Shoals High School has the opportunity to participate in unique professional development activities. In addition to having a Professor-in-Residence, The University of Georgia places its students in classrooms for fieldwork and student teaching, and the faculty of the high school has access to College of Education courses taught on-site.
Cedar Shoals believes focused, timely professional development is the cornerstone to both teacher growth and student achievement. To that end, Cedar Shoals is committed to building the capacity of every teacher by identifying their individual needs, and then developing high quality learning opportunities grounded in inquiry and practice.
For opening the gates to its best courses and giving staff the support they need to teach them, Cedar Shoals is recognized as a Silver School of Opportunity.