Maria Regina was recognized as the only high school within the Archdiocese of New York’s Westchester region to achieve the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Roll Platinum designation
Maria Regina also distinguished itself in the 2025 ranking by sharing the top honors with only a few public high schools in Westchester. “That is a truly extraordinary achievement for Maria Regina when you consider the vast majority of schools in the area are top public high schools,” stated Principal Maria Carozza-McCaffrey (Class of ’99).
Building on an impressive two-year track record, Maria Regina achieved Platinum after earning Gold ranking across four Advanced Placement (AP) awards programs.
According to the College Board, only 8% of eligible schools in the U.S. and Canada earned Platinum status (457 schools and school districts nationally out of 5,723). Maria Regina is the only Catholic High School in Westchester, the only all-girls Catholic High School in Westchester and the Bronx and one of five public and private high schools in Westchester County to receive the highest distinction.
Carozza-McCaffrey declared: “We are absolutely thrilled by the Platinum honor. It is a testament not only to our students’ outstanding, college-level achievements but to the steadfast dedication of our AP teachers and Assistant Principal of Academics Silvia Santo, who inspire our students to achieve greatness.”
Other Westchester schools achieving platinum designation were:
- Byram Hills High School
- Croton-Harmon High School
- Fordham Preparatory School
- Loyola School
- Notre Dame Academy High School
- Notre Dame School
- Saint Joseph Hill Academy
Exceeding College Board Benchmarks:
To earn Platinum status, Maria Regina surpassed demanding benchmarks across three key metrics:
- College Culture (Benchmark: 80%): Maria Regina surpassed with 83% of the Class of 2025 who took at least one AP exam
- College Credit (Benchmark: 50%): Maria Regina surpassed the benchmark, with 56% of the Class of 2025scoring 3 or higher on at least one AP exam.
- College Optimization (Benchmark:15%): Maria Regina surpassed the benchmark by nearly double, with 26% of the Class of 2025 taking 5 or more AP courses, including at least one in 9th/10th grade.
Recent AP Program Achievements
- AP Scholar rankings increased 63% over the prior school year.
- 66% of the 253 students taking AP courses scored 3 or higher on exams – up from 10% last year.
- 100 of these students achieved the highest scores of 4 or 5.
- 24 students earned the 2025 College Board School Recognition Award – a fivefold increase.
- 53% of the student body at Maria Regina High School took 464 exams across 18 AP courses, spanning all academic and artistic disciplines.
AP Capstone Program
Two years ago, Maria Regina High School became the only all-girls high school in Westchester County and one of three high schools within the Archdiocese of New York to offer the elite AP Capstone Diploma program. The inaugural cohort of 16 students is currently completing AP Research, while a second group of 11 students is midway through year 1 of the program, AP Seminar.
“We are only midway in the current academic year,” Carozza-McCaffrey noted. “If past performance is any measure, there’s more great news to come about Maria Regina’s extraordinarily committed and hardworking students. Stay tuned.”
