Memorial High School in West New York, N.J., Uses AP® as Path to College Success

Feb. 2012

Middle States News

In West New York, N.J., two graduates of Memorial High School returned to introduce a new generation of students to a new culture of academic achievement and college readiness.

At the center of the high school’s and the district’s efforts to increase academic rigor was a plan to expand access and achievement in Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) courses. And they succeeded.

From 2008 to 2010, the West New York district:

• increased student participation in AP from 48 to 99 students, a 44 percent annual increase;
• increased the percentage of AP students earning scores of 3 or higher from 21 percent to 37 percent; and
• increased the percentage of traditionally underserved minority AP students earning scores of 3 or higher from 23 percent to 36 percent.

In recognition of the district’s achievement, West New York was named a 2011 AP District of the Year (for small districts).

Robert Sanchez, assistant superintendent of schools and former principal of Memorial High School, and current principal Scott Cannao were students at the school in the 1980s.

“When I became principal at Memorial [the district’s only high school], one thing I noticed was that not much had changed. It was a good school with good programs, but the world changes. Education needs to change, too, or students will be left behind,” Sanchez said. “We wanted to take a look at our entire program and change the culture of the school.”

One priority was to increase college readiness. Sanchez remembered students returning to Memorial and talking about the workload that they found in college.

“We knew something had to be done to increase rigor so that students who planned on attending college would have better success,” Sanchez said. “We have challenges here. Seventy percent of our students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. But we’ve got great kids who can succeed. We looked at what we could do, and we believed that expanding AP was one of the surest ways to achieve our goal.”

Geraldine Stangl, who is now retired, played an important role in creating an AP program at Memorial High, Sanchez said, and he looked to build on the foundation she and others established. The district has added several AP courses in international languages — French and Italian — as well as Spanish Literature. The high school also has developed partnerships with universities so that students can get an early start on college-credit courses and an idea about the expectations in higher education.

“We’re pleased to be recognized, but we did this because we believed it was a way to help our students,” Sanchez said. “We all enjoy seeing them succeed.”