New for 2023-2024 School Year
AP Capstone Program
St. Joseph Hill Academy High School is always investing in the future of our students. Hill's mission to educate and empower young women to become independent thinkers ready to face society's challenges led us to introduce the AP Capstone Program in the 2022-2023 school year.
Hill is the only Staten Island Catholic high school with an AP Capstone Diploma program. Every single student is given the opportunity to take AP Capstone: Seminar as a sophomore, and is also given the option to take AP Capstone: Research as a junior or senior. No extra courses are programmed for the students. Our faculty members who are certified to teach these courses, provide them with guidance during class time in Humanities or STEM courses.
In AP Capstone: Seminar, students work on group projects, and select individual projects on a topic they are passionate about. The goal is to hone individual writing and presentation skills – as sophomores. If students opt to take AP Capstone: Research, our faculty guides these students on individual research projects selected by the students, with the goal of strengthening their research skills before college.
This program provides a unique opportunity for every Hill student to obtain an AP Capstone Certificate (by qualifying on those two courses), or an AP Capstone Diploma (if they qualify on 4 additional AP subject courses) by the College Board – both are looked very favorably upon by colleges.
This is an interdisciplinary program that encourages students to demonstrate critical thinking, collaboration and academic research skills on the topics of their choosing. The reality of this Program is that it equips students with essential skills that will shape them for the rest of their lives: skills in research, analysis, evidence-based arguments, collaborating, writing, and public speaking. It can also greatly help students with the skills they need to stand out to colleges.
College Business
Betsy Elwell ‘81 is teaching a College Business course this year. Her vision of this class is to give Hill students a basic understanding of skills required for a career in Business, and to expose the students to the various majors in the Business Department of most four-year colleges.
AP Human Geography
Offered to select Sophomores, this course includes both the study of physical geography and human behavioral patterns as a result of environmental changes. It also requires familiarity with reading data-driven models such as tables and graphs. Students will become competent with analyzing various types of maps and making inferences about human activity in those regions.
AP PreCalculus
Taking AP Precalculus prepares you for other college-level mathematics and science courses. During the course, you’ll explore everyday situations using mathematical tools and lenses. You’ll also develop an understanding of modeling and functions, and examine scenarios through multiple representations. The course framework outlines content and skills needed for careers in mathematics, physics, biology, health science, social science, and data science.