Verona High School earned the College Board’s AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for expanding young women’s access to both AP Computer Science A (CSA) and AP Computer Science Principles (CSP). This award acknowledges 1,127 high schools for their work toward improving gender representation in Computer Science during the 2022-23 school year. VHS is one of only 68 schools, out of approximately 27,000 high schools in the United States, to be recognized for achieving this important result in both AP Computer Science courses. Among those 68 schools, only 17 are co-ed, non-selective public high schools like VHS.
This honor recognizes the outstanding work of our female students studying AP Computer Science at Verona High School.
Research shows that female students who take AP computer science are more likely to major in computer science in college compared with matched peers. Through our leadership in diversifying computer science education, we are preparing our 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 imperative to ensure gender parity in the industry’s high-paying jobs and to drive innovation, creativity, and representation. The median annual wage for computer and information technology occupations was $100,530 in May 2022. However, women represent just 24% of the five million people in computing occupations.
According to a Google study, 54% of female computer science majors took AP CSA in high school. College Board research about AP CSP also finds AP CSP students are nearly twice as likely to enroll in AP CSA, and that for most students, AP CSP serves as a stepping stone to other advanced AP STEM coursework.
These findings highlight the importance of schools nationwide achieving gender parity in AP computer science classrooms. Overall, female students remain underrepresented in our high school computer science classes, accounting for just 34% of AP Computer Science Principles participants and 26% of AP Computer Science A participants. Currently, 57.5% of high schools teach foundational computer science. The schools that receive this year’s AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award serve as inspirations and models for all U.S. high schools.
Pictured are:
First Row: Samantha Andersen, Ava Vega, Nia Pilauri, Lauren Ryan, Nadia Prieto, Julia Loudon, Georganne Valera, Marguerite Valera, Angelina Cheung
Second Row: Kaitlyn Pietrucha, Molly McCabe, Juliana Alvarez, Maren McCabe, Francesca Ghetian, Isabelle Derrick, Eve Kershaw, Angelie Sin, Hannah Koffler
Third Row: Rebecca Russell, Bella Lambert, Reece Luftglass, Ella Barchie, Angelina O’Dell, Kelly Barrow, Samantha Heimall, Rachel Bochicchio, Cara DeMars, Samantha Rizzi, Rich Wertz
Not pictured: Sarah Bosco, Reese Sahadow, Emely Andrade, Katelyn Meehan, Emily Theobald, Margot DaCosta, Allyson Vasquez
