The Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) has announced that Ridgeland High School students earned the second-highest test scores on the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) in the northwest Georgia region and the eighth-highest scores in the state on the U.S. History End of Course Test (EOCT) last year. These awards are the second Ridgeland has received for excellence on the SAT and EOCT.

Last year state school superintendent Kathy Cox awarded Ridgeland High School the Superin-tendent's Distinguished Achievement Award for improvement in Algebra I. This award is given only to the top ten schools in the state with the greatest gains in students meeting and exceeding scoring levels on the EOCT. In 2006, governor Sonny Perdue awarded Ridgeland the Governor’s Cup for the state's highest gain in SAT scores in its class.

Ridgeland's Career Center has been actively involved with Georgia's Work Ready Certificate Program, testing juniors and seniors for workforce readiness skills. This fall governor Sonny Perdue announced Ridgeland is one of only 56 high schools throughout the state awarded Georgia Work Ready Training Grants. The $5,000 state grant will provide three-year access to skills-gap training software to help students improve their Work Ready Certificate levels.

“Earning a Work Ready Certificate tells a potential employer that an individual has the core job skills necessary for success,” said governor Perdue. “The Work Ready software helps students im-prove their work readiness, provides students with a better understanding of the skills employers look for in a successful employee, and helps high schools improve their graduation rates.”