Lorenzo Richardson, HCSBA president; Adina Medina, middle school instructional lead, Hoboken Dual Language Charter School; Jennifer Hindman Sargent, executive director/lead person, Hoboken Dual Language Charter School; Jeffrey Maccoux, eighth grade Spanish language arts teacher; Hoboken Dual Language Charter School; and Barry Fitzgerald, NJSBA vice president for county activities.

In 2021, Hoboken Dual Language Charter School’s seventh and eighth grades internally developed a Spanish language arts curriculum that was evaluated by the College Board and approved as a college level AP course.

All HoLa eighth-grade students will now graduate with an AP designation on their high school transcript and have the opportunity to sit for the College Board AP Spanish Language and Culture exam, making HoLa the first public middle school to achieve this distinction. Upon successful completion of the AP exam, HoLa students qualify to start high school with college credits already in hand.

The school was honored for its achievement at the Hudson County School Boards Association’s Dec. 13 meeting at Kearny High School with a School Leader Award.