Redmond Proficiency Academy (RPA), a tuition-free public charter school located in Redmond, has earned the College Board AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles, according to RPA science, technology and mathematics instructor Josh White.
Schools honored with the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award have expanded young women’s access to AP computer science courses. This marks the second straight year RPA has been honored with the distinction.
“During an unprecedented year, RPA female students have demonstrated perseverance and dedication in their study of AP computer science,” White said. “We could not be prouder of our female students for staking their claim as the next generation of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals.”
White attributes the national recognition to building a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program that is designed to expand access to a wide variety of students.
“RPA offers engaging, high interest classes that are welcoming to all and that remove barriers of entry for students,” White said. “We have robotics classes where students can earn science credit, game design classes where they learn to create video games, and when they are ready to challenge themselves, we offer two AP level courses in computer science. All this has created an environment where female students feel empowered to explore how computer science can apply to their lives.”
Out of the 20,000 institutions that offer AP courses, 1,119 achieved either 50 percent or higher female representation in one of the two AP computer science courses or a percentage of the female computer science examinees meeting or exceeding that of the school’s female population during the 2019-2020 school year.
In 2020, RPA was one of 831 schools recognized in the category of AP Computer Science Principles and one of only six in the state of Oregon. Redmond Proficiency Academy (RPA) is now in its twelfth year, RPA serves over 900 students from grades 6th-12th throughout Central Oregon. With an innovative and personalized proficiency-based collegiate model, RPA provides dynamic pathways to success for all students.
