The Academy of the Holy Angels is an all-female private middle school and college preparatory

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in Demarest, in

Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States, serving students in sixth through twelfth grade. The school is a sponsored work of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. The Academy of the Holy Angels draws students from

North Jersey North Jersey comprises the northern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the upper Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of northern New Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquial one rather than an administrati ...

Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...

, and surrounding areas. As of the 2019–20 school year, the school had an enrollment of 493 students and 43 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 11.5:1. The school's student body was 52.7% (260) White, 18.7% (92) Asian, 18.7% (92) Hispanic, 5.7% (28) two or more races, 4.1% (20) Black and 0.2% (1) American Indian/ Alaska Native.School data for Academy Of The Holy Angels

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance ...

. Accessed March 10, 2022. The Academy of the Holy Angels is a member of the

National Catholic Educational Association The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) is a private, professional educational membership association of over 150,000 educators in Catholic schools, universities, and religious education programs. It is the largest such organization ...

and the

New Jersey Association of Independent Schools The New Jersey Association of Independent Schools (NJAIS) 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 ...

History

The Academy of the Holy Angels is the oldest private school in Bergen County. Founded in 1879 by

Sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

Mary Nonna Dunphy, one of the

School Sisters of Notre Dame School Sisters of Notre Dame is a worldwide religious institute of Roman Catholic sisters founded in Bavaria in 1833 and devoted to primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Their life in mission centers on prayer, community life and mi ...

, the school was opened in Fort Lee, 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. The former site was replaced by Mediterranean Towers South at 2000 Linwood Avenue, on the northeast corner of Main Street and Linwood Avenue.

Awards and recognition

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

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

, the highest award an American school can receive. 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 accreditation

The school is accredited by the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...

Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools.Academy of the Holy Angels

Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed July 14, 2022. 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 2005, upon entering the school, each student is required to buy a Fujitsu Tablet. Students use these tablets during school and at home to complete assignments, access the internet for research, take notes, and 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. 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 (stylized as turnitin) is an Internet-based plagiarism detection service run by the American company Turnitin, LLC, a subsidiary of Advance Publications. Founded in 1998, it sells its licenses to universities and high schools who then ...

, a website that scans finished papers and assignments for plagiarism and helps prevent it as well. Beginning with the class of 2011, AHA began to use LiveText, an online storage site in which each student is able to upload their best papers and projects, ultimately creating their own 'online resume.'

Art

AHA facilities include four art studios and a lab for digital media. Winter and Spring Art Shows are held annually to feature artists. The school also has an active chapter of the National Art Honor Society, Art Club, and Photography Club. The AHA Dance Team competes annually at the UDA National Dance Team Championship, hosted at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, FL. The squad has won five National Titles in Small Varsity Hip Hop as well as placed in the top 3 in Small Varsity Pom for the past three years.

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.

In-school activities

* AHAnime * Armenian Club * Art for the Community * Asian Cultural Society * Black and Hispanic Cultural Society * Blueprint Literary Magazine * Book Club * Comic Book Heroes on Film * CSI Angels * Deep Relaxation * Diversity Club * Drama Club * Echoes Yearbook * Embroidery Club * French Club * French for Travelers * Go Green * History Society * I'm Puzzled * Instrumental Ensemble/Orchestra * International Students Club * Italian Club * Japanese Club * Latin Dancing * Lean In * Literature on Film * Math Club/3D Design * Math Tutoring * M.E.D.S. * Music Makers *

Outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

* Pen Pals * Project Greenhouse * Quillow 101 * Quick and Easy Crafts * Real Life 101 * Roman Personalities on Film *

SADD Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), formerly Students Against Driving Drunk, is an organization whose aim is to prevent accidents from students taking potentially destructive decisions. Mission "SADD empowers and mobilizes students a ...

Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left t ...

Checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

* Spanish Club * Student Athletic Association *

Student Council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

* Study Period * Ultimate Frisbee * Yoga * Young Entrepreneur

After-school activities

* Academy Chorus * Advisory Council * AHA Dance Team * AHA Voice (newspaper) * AHAnime * Angel Ambassadors * Angels for Animals * Angels For Life * Angels over Africa * Art Club * Asian Cultural Society * Big/Little Sister * Black & Hispanic Cultural Association * Blueprint Literary Magazine * Book Club * Bridges * Chess * CSI Angels (Forensics) * Dean's Council * Debate * Drama Club * Drawing from Model * Echoes (yearbook) * Embroidery * E-portfolio * Equality Now * Equestrian * Eucharistic Ministers * French Club * Gaelic Society * GO Green * Habitat for Humanity *

Handbell A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle – traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic – and moves the arm to make the hinged cla ...

* Hellenic Angels * Honduras Club * Instrumental Ensemble * Italian Club * Jazz Band * Jeweled Angels * JOY (Joining Old & Young) * Just Angels * Knitwits * Korean Club * Liturgical Ministers * Math Club * MEDS * Middle Eastern Club * Mock Trial *

Model UN Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

* Music Makers *

Operation Smile Operation Smile is a nonprofit medical service organization founded in 1982 by Dr. William P. Magee Jr. and his wife Kathleen (Kathy) S. Magee. It is headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In addition to providing cleft lip and palate repair ...

* Orchestra *

* Photography *

Quidditch Quidditch is a fictional sport invented by author J.K. Rowling for her fantasy book series ''Harry Potter''. It first appeared in the novel ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997). It is a dangerous but popular sport played by witc ...

* Quiz Bowl * Retreat Leadership Teams * SADD * Service Organizations * ScoliAngels * Space Angels * Spanish Club * Stress Busters * Student Athletic Association * Student Council * Theater Productions * Vocal Ensemble * Walking for Fitness * Watercolor Painting * Writers' Club

Honors Societies

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

Mu Alpha Theta Mu Alpha Theta () is the United States mathematics honor society for high school and two-year college students. In June 2015, it served over 108,000 student members in over 2,200 chapters in the United States and in 20 foreign countries. Its main ...

(National Mathematics Honor Society) * Thespian Honor Society (Performing Arts) * National Science Honor Society * Società Onoraria Italica (Italian Language) * Societas Latina Honoris (Latin Language) *

Société Honoraire de Français The Société Honoraire de Français (French National Honor Society) is an organization whose intent is to recognize high school students in the United States who have maintained excellent grades in at least three semesters of French language cours ...

(French Language) * Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (Spanish Language) * Tri-M Honor Society (Music) * Rho Kappa (National Social Studies Honor Society) * NBEA (National Business Honor Society) *

National Art Honor Society The National Art Honor Society was established in 1978 in the United States by the National Art Education Association for high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the ...

Athletics

The Angels of the Academy of the Holy AngelsAcademy of the Holy Angels

New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) 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 championsh ...

. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Big North Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Bergen and

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the

. Prior to realignment in 2010, the school competed in the

North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League The North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League, abbreviated NBIL or NBIAL, was an athletic conference of twelve high schools located in the northern part of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey. Wayne Hills High School, located in ...

, which consisted of public and private high schools located in Bergen County. With 866 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Non-Public A for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 381 to 1,454 students in that grade range (equivalent to Group I for public schools). The Academy of the Holy Angels has a long-standing rivalry with fellow Catholic school,

Immaculate Heart Academy Immaculate Heart Academy (IHA) is an all-girls college preparatory private Roman Catholic high school located in Washington Township, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The school colors are blue and white, and the school's athletes ...

in Washington Township. In 2018, the varsity soccer team beat the Eagles 1-0 for the first time in history. The cross country team won the Non-Public A state titles in both 2006 and 2009. Basketball coach Susan Liddy was recognized in fall 2008 for having reached a milestone 600th win. The tennis team won the Non-Public A state championship in 2015 (defeating

Eustace Preparatory School Bishop Eustace Preparatory School is a Catholic high school in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey. Founded in 1954 by the priests and brothers of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (The Pallottines), the school operates under the auspices of ...

in the final match of the tournament) and in 2018 (vs. Pingry School). The 2015 team ran their record for the season to 16-0 after winning the Non-Public A state title over Bishop Eustace 4–1 in the tournament finals at

Mercer County Park The Richard J. Coffee Mercer County Park is a recreational park located in Mercer County, New Jersey – mostly within West Windsor Township, but also with small western sections extending into Hamilton and Lawrence Townships. Originally and st ...

. The bowling team won the Group II state championship in 2015. Sports offered to students at AHA include: ;Fall sports *

Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

* Bergen Catholic Varsity Cheer * St. Joseph's Varsity Cheer ;Winter sports *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

Fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

Indoor track Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

;Spring sports *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

Alma mater

The official alma mater for Holy Angels was written by Margaret Mary Powers Gidez (Class of 1942). The original lyrics of the first two lines were, "With stately dome arising high and golden cross above." When the Academy relocated to Demarest in 1965, the lyrics were changed to reflect the move.

Notable alumnae

* Greta Kiernan (born 1933), politician who served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

from the 39th Legislative District from 1978 to 1980.

In popular culture

In the 1947 noir film '' Kiss of Death'' the Academy, then located in Fort Lee, was the setting of an orphanage where main character Nick Bianco (played by

Victor Mature Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include ''One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darlin ...

) visits his daughters. The film was directed by

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films. Backgro ...

and the nun in the orphanage was portrayed by

Eva Condon Eva Condon (1880-1956) was an actress of the Broadway stage and vaudeville, from the early to mid 20th century. Stage career She resolved to pursue acting at the age of 16. Condon graduated from Hunter College before becoming an understudy in ...

.Meyers, Tom
"A Date With The Angels At The Mediterranean Towers"
Fort Lee, NJ Patch, June 22, 2012. Accessed January 22, 2022.

References

External links

Academy of the Holy AngelsData for the Academy of the Holy Angels

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Of The Holy Angels 1879 establishments in New Jersey Demarest, New Jersey Girls' schools in New Jersey Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools New Jersey Association of Independent Schools Private high schools in Bergen County, New Jersey Catholic secondary schools in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1879 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark School Sisters of Notre Dame schools