Six Forsyth County Seniors Earn Prestigious Georgia Scholar Designation

Just 162 graduating seniors across all of Georgia earned the state's Georgia Scholar designation in 2026. Six of them attended school in Forsyth County.

State School Superintendent Richard Woods announced the cohort in early April, recognizing students who have "achieved excellence in school and community life." Each honoree receives a seal for their diploma and an honorary graduation cord from the Georgia Department of Education.

The Georgia Scholar designation is not awarded for a single test score or a strong final semester. GaDOE selects honorees who carried exemplary course loads across all four years of high school, demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, and served as leaders in extracurricular activities and community service organizations. The program is open to all Georgia public and private school seniors who meet the established criteria.

For Forsyth County juniors eyeing the 2027 cohort, the application window runs from January 1 through March 1. The program requires at least 22 Carnegie Units for graduation, including a unit in fine arts drawn from visual arts, music, dance, or dramatic arts. Multiyear involvement in school organizations and community service weighs heavily in the review; the profile the program rewards is one built consistently across four years, not assembled in the final semester.

Woods was direct in his praise for this year's class. "These students exemplify excellence in academics, leadership, and service," he said. "I'm proud to celebrate their achievements and confident they will continue making a positive difference in their communities and beyond."

Forsyth County's six scholars are part of a statewide cohort that is genuinely selective by design. For context, Cobb County Schools, which serves roughly twice as many students as Forsyth's 55,000, named 26 scholars this cycle.

Forsyth County Schools already leads all metro-Atlanta county districts and the 12 largest Georgia districts across four academic benchmarks: a 96 percent graduation rate, CCRPI score, SAT score, and ACT score. The district educates more than 55,000 students across 42 schools and ranks as the fifth-largest in Georgia among 180 districts statewide. For the class of 2026, the six Georgia Scholars represent the kind of sustained academic and civic commitment that the district, founded in Cumming in 1873, has built its reputation on.

The full list of 2026 Georgia Scholars, organized by district and high school, is available on the GaDOE website.