by Emma Willibey
1960s vs. 2014
COLLEGE-PREP PROGRAMS
1960s: No college-prep emphasis
“You could certainly go to college if you wanted to,” President Nan Bone, who attended STA in the late 1960s, said. “Probably 90 percent were off to college.”
2014: College-prep curriculum
According to its website, STA offers three ACT prep classes, five honors classes, nine AP classes, five online AP classes and 17 college classes.
ELECTIVES
1960s: Typing, not computer classes
“I took Latin, took Spanish,” Bone said. “Classes were similar, but when you get into technology, absolutely not.”
2014: Netbooks and Online School for Girls
According to its website, STA offers 13 computer science courses and 10 online courses.
TEACHERS
1960s: Mostly nuns
“[The staff was] 80 percent nuns,” Bone said. “Certainly the nuns were all in the administrative roles.”
2014: Most have masters’ degrees
“I would say almost 90 to 95 to 98 percent of our teachers have masters’, and a few [have] doctorates,” Bone said.
Sources: President Nan Bone, STA website
1970s
COURSE REGISTRATION
If a student changed one class before June 1, she paid a $1 fee. Those who switched a course before Aug. 15 paid $2, and switching a course “before the third week of school” cost $3.
ADVANCED CLASSES
STA denoted advanced courses with different numbers, such as “English II 220” rather than “English II 221.” While both classes studied the same text, girls “in 220 [went] into the materials in greater depth and [were] required to do work of a higher caliber.”
FINE ARTS AND BUSINESS COURSES
Crafts (Grades 9-12)
Intended for those unenrolled in other arts classes, crafts allowed students to practice “wood burning, candle making [and] stitchery.”
Retailing (Grades 11, 12)
A business class, retailing required students to “form a corporation, elect officers, sell stock, create a product, sell the product and declare dividends.”
Shorthand I (Grades 11, 12)
Shorthand I tested students’ ability to “take dictation” for business and only admitted students who could type 80 words per minute.
Source: St. Teresa’s Academy Program of Studies 1972-73
