AHA Earns STEM Honor

The Academy of the Holy Angels has received The College Board AP^® Computer Science Female Diversity Award. AHA was recognized for expanding young women’s access to Advanced Placement Computer Science A during the 2022-23 school year. AHA is one of only 225 schools to be recognized for closing the gender gap in AP CSA.

Holy Angels first won this award for the 2019-2020 academic year.

“I am truly proud to receive this award and grateful to our teachers and students who make this a reality,” said AHA Upper School Principal Jean Miller. “At AHA, it’s natural to see girls in coding classes and challenging AP courses in math and science, experimenting in our STREAM labs, or excelling in robotics and debate. This is so much a part of who we are. I’m pleased that AHA offers so many opportunities for girls to develop confidence in STEM and graduate with advanced skills. This College Board® recognition for excellence is so greatly appreciated, and serves as a reminder that, when we offer girls the tools they need to succeed, they will excel far beyond our expectations.”  

AHA provides young women an award-winning, nationally recognized STREAM curriculum that integrates science, technology, religion, engineering, art, and math. As a Female Diversity Award recipient, AHA is considered an inspiration and model for all American high schools, where overall, female students remain underrepresented in computer science classes.

“Research shows that female students who take AP Computer Science are more likely to major in computer science in college compared with matched peers,” The College Board® stated in its congratulatory message. “Through your leadership in diversifying computer science education, you’re preparing your female students for the in-demand jobs of the future and giving them the opportunity to help solve some of society’s most challenging problems.”

Providing female students with access to computer science courses is critical to ensuring gender parity in the industry’s high-paying jobs and to drive innovation, creativity, and representation.

AP Computer Science A, which debuted in 1988, challenges students to design and implement computer programs that solve problems relevant to modern society.

(Statistics in this article are courtesy of The College Board.)

Founded by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1879, the Academy of the Holy Angels is the oldest private girls’ school in Bergen County. While AHA is steeped in Catholic tradition, this prestigious high school serves young women from many cultural and religious backgrounds. Many go on to study at some of the nation’s best universities, earning high-ranking positions in medicine, government, law, education, public service, business, arts, and athletics. The Academy’s current leaders continue to further the SSND mission to provide each student with the tools she needs to reach the fullness of her potential—spiritually, intellectually, socially, and physically, by offering a first-rate education in a nurturing environment where equal importance is placed on academic excellence, character development, moral integrity, and service to others.