For the school in Richfield, Minnesota

Richfield, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 34,439 people, 15,073 households, and 8,727 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,993.9 people per square mile . There were 15,357 housing units at an average density of 2,226.9 per square mile...

, see Academy of Holy Angels

Academy of Holy Angels

The Academy of Holy Angels is a Catholic, coeducational high school located in Richfield, Minnesota. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Holy Angels educates more than 820 students each year in grades nine through twelve from around the Twin Cities...

.

The Academy of the Holy Angels is an all-female Roman Catholic college preparatory high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 located in Demarest

Demarest, New Jersey

Demarest is a Borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 4,881.Demarest was formed by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1903, from portions of Harrington Township and Palisades Township. The borough was named...

, Bergen County, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade. The school operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark

The Archdiocese of Newark is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jersey counties of Bergen, Union, Hudson and Essex .-History:Originally established as the Diocese of...

. The Academy of the Holy Angels draws students from North Jersey

North Jersey

North Jersey is a colloquial term, with no precise consensus definition, for the northern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. A straightforward, noncolloquial term for the region is northern New Jersey.- Two-portion approaches :...

, Rockland County, New York

Rockland County, New York

Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...

, and surrounding areas.

As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 539 students and 46.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE

Full-time equivalent

Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...

 basis) for a Student–teacher ratio of 11.6.

The Academy of the Holy Angels is a member of the National Catholic Educational Association

National Catholic Educational Association

The National Catholic Educational Association is a private professional educational association of over 200,000 educators in Catholic schools, universities, and religious education programs...

 and the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools

New Jersey Association of Independent Schools

The New Jersey Association of Independent Schools serves independent elementary and secondary schools throughout the state of New Jersey. The Association consists of 70 member schools with a total enrollment of approximately 26,000 students...

.

Mission

"Rooted in the conviction of the School Sisters of Notre Dame that 'the world can be changed through the transformation of persons,' education at the Academy empowers each young woman to reach the fullness of her potential spiritually, morally, intellectually, socially, and physically, so that she, in turn, may share her gifts with others. The vision of a new global community based on gospel values permeates life at the Academy, impelling each young woman to embrace generous leadership."

History

The Academy of the Holy Angels is the oldest private school in Bergen County. Founded in 1879 by Sister Mary Nonna Dunphy, one of the School Sisters of Notre Dame

School Sisters of Notre Dame

School Sisters of Notre Dame is a worldwide order of Roman Catholic nuns devoted to primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Their life in mission centers on prayer, community life and ministry...

, the school was opened in Fort Lee

Fort Lee, New Jersey

Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...

, New Jersey as a boarding and day school for girls from kindergarten to twelfth grade. In 1890 it was incorporated as Holy Angels, Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies and Preparatory School for Little Girls. Its motto was then and remains now "Vitae Via Virtus." The Holy Angels Board voted to change the name of the school to the Academy of the Holy Angels in 1934 when Sister M. Angeline Hughes was Principal. The school accepted a developer's offer for the school's location in Fort Lee and purchased a large property in Demarest. The school had operated a grammar school in addition to the high school for decades and many graduates were known as "12 year Angels." The grammar school was discontinued completely in 1964 prior to the move from Fort Lee. Building commenced and the school relocated to its current location in Demarest in 1965.

Awards and recognition

During the 1999-2000 school year, the Academy of the Holy Angels was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence

Blue Ribbon Schools Program

The Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States government program created in 1981 to honor schools which have achieved high levels of performance or significant improvements with emphasis on schools serving disadvantaged students. The program centers around a self-assessment conducted by the...

 by the United States Department of Education

United States Department of Education

The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...

, the highest award an American school can receive.

Furthermore, the Corporation for National Service selected the Academy of the Holy Angels as a National Service-Learning Leader School, due to its excellence in service learning. Holy Angels is one of two Catholic high schools nationwide to receive this honor.

Middle States program

The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association dedicated to educational excellence and improvement through peer evaluation and accreditation...

 Commission on Secondary Schools, one of six regional accrediting, peer-administered organizations that offers institutions protocols for evaluation and improvement. AHA chose Accreditation for Growth, a strategic planning method in which diverse constituent groups participate in discussions, which are then used as a method for growth and improvement, both academically by the students, as well as by the institution.

Technology

Since 2007, upon entering the school, each student is required to buy a Fujitsu Tablet, which students use these tablets during school and at home to complete assignments, access the internet for research, take notes, as well as communicate with the faculty. Equipped with a pen and with a screen that can function as a notebook, students are able to use these tablets for all subjects such as History and Math. Remarkable features such as the Dropbox and Student Commons allow students to access notes and papers from the teachers on the school network, as well as place their own completed assignments within the folders on the network and in effect decrease the amount of paper used.

In addition, AHA is currently using Turnitin

Turnitin

Turnitin is an Internet-based plagiarism-detection service created by iParadigms, LLC. Typically, universities and high schools buy licenses to submit essays to the Turnitin website, which checks the documents for originality...

, a website that scans finished papers and assignments for plagiarism and helps prevent it as well. Also, beginning with the class of 2011, AHA has recently introduced LiveText, an online storage site in which each student is able to upload their best papers and projects, ultimately creating their own ‘online resume.’ With this new addition, each student is given an edge that many students from other schools do not have as this program allows each student to create their own video introducing themselves to prospective colleges.

Activities

The Academy of the Holy Angels provides a range of clubs and organizations that students can join based on their own interests and availability. In addition to after-school activities, the schedule of AHA allows a 45-minute activity period at the end of the day once a cycle, during which students can participate in in-school clubs and organizations. There are two cycles that alternate, and students can, therefore, choose two in-school activities to participate in.

Athletics

The Academy of the Holy Angels now competes in the Big North Conference

Big North Conference

The Big North Conference is a high school athletic conference in New Jersey. It is one of six North Jersey "super athletic conferences" created by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association in 2009...

, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association

New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association is an association of hundreds of New Jersey high schools that regulates high school athletics and holds tournaments and crowns champions in high school sports.-State championships:...

. Prior to realignment in 2010, the school competed in the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League

Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League

The Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League, abbreviated NNJIL, was a former athletic conference located in Bergen County, Passaic County and Essex County, New Jersey...

, which consisted of public and private high schools located in Bergen County, New Jersey and Passaic County, New Jersey

Passaic County, New Jersey

Passaic County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 501,226. Its county seat is Paterson...

. Basketball coach Susan Liddy was recognized in the fall of 2008 for having reached a milestone 600th win.

The Academy of the Holy Angels has a long-standing rivalry with fellow Catholic school, Immaculate Heart Academy

Immaculate Heart Academy

Immaculate Heart Academy is an all-girls college preparatory private Roman Catholic high school located in Washington Township, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The school was founded in 1960 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace as the first regional high school for girls in the Roman...

 in Washington Township.

The cross country team won the Non-Public A state titles in both 2006 and 2009.

Below is a listing of the sports offered to students at AHA:

External links

• Academy of the Holy Angels
• Data for the Academy of the Holy Angels, National Center for Education Statistics
  National Center for Education Statistics
  The National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...