79 percent of Hoboken Dual Language Charter School 8th graders passed their AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam, school officials said.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Out of that group, 43 percent achieved a score of four or five out of five. Students who take the AP course are also typically in their fourth year of high school-level study, which HoLa is uniquely able to deliver to its middle schoolers.
“These results demonstrate the hard work and commitment of our students and faculty. Our students can now earn college credit before starting high school. HoLa exemplifies the promise of education and bilingualism alike,” HoLa Executive Director Jennifer Sargent said in a statement
In 2021, the College Board recognized HoLa’s Spanish Language Arts curriculum for 7th and 8th grade students as equivalent to a college-level AP Spanish Language and Culture course, allowing 8th graders to graduate with an AP designation on their transcripts and qualify for the College Board AP Spanish exam.
HoLa is the first public middle school in New Jersey to achieve that goal.
“Our teachers and instructional leadership put a tremendous amount of effort and intentionality into designing our middle school AP curriculum,” Sargent added.
“We aimed to create a program that would challenge our students at the high level of linguistic and academic development they have achieved by 8th grade at HoLa, and prepare them for continued success in high school and beyond.”
HoLa was also recently recognized as an International Spanish Academy by Spain’s Ministry of Education and an official partner of the Spanish Government, the only school in New Jersey to receive this designation.
This means that students will soon be able to graduate with diplomas from New Jersey and Spain.
“Taking the AP exam was challenging, but we were prepared and our teachers pushed us to do our best,” said Elijah Medina, 2024 8th grade graduate of HoLa.
“It’s great to see our scores reflect all the effort we put in. I’m excited about potentially earning college credit before even starting high school.”