Mercy High School Earns College Board’s AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award!

 

We are excited and honored to announce that Mercy High School has earned College Board’s AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award!

 

After being named to the AP® School Honor Roll Gold Distinction earlier this school year, Mercy was recognized for its commitment to expanding young women’s access to AP Computer Science A (CSA).

 

 

Mercy is one of just 237 schools in the country to earn this distinction.

 

 

“I am so proud of our students who are not only inspired to enroll themselves in these courses, but to also be motivated to learn and achieve,” President Alissa K. DeJonge '95 said.

 

 

Earlier this school year, Mercy received Gold Distinction on the AP® School Honor Roll for the second straight school year.

 

 

Together, both awards/honors highlight one of our core values at Mercy: educational courage.

 

 

According to College Board research, female students who take AP CSP in high school are more than five times as likely to major in computer science in college, compared to similar student who did not take CSP. The study also finds AP CSP students are nearly twice as likely to enroll in AP CSA, and that for most students serves as a stepping-stone to other advanced AP Stem coursework.

 

Today, women still only make up 34 percent of the STEM workforce and 26 percent of the 5.6 million working in computing occupations. But at Mercy High School, our goal is to not only change those statistics but provide every opportunity and resource our students need to help figure out their future.

 

At Mercy, our students welcome the challenge of pursuing their full potential in a culture of excellence, critical thinking, and curiosity, and we’re so proud to see that type of initiative awarded by AP®!

 

Congratulations to all our Mercy Women for making this happen!