S.C. Governor's School for Science and Mathematics Leads State High Schools in ACT, SAT Scores
September 19, 2010
HARTSVILLE, SC – September 16, 2010 – The S.C. Governor’s Schoolfor Science and Mathematics (GSSM) had the highest ACT and SAT scoreaverages among the Palmetto State’s 2010 graduates, according torecently released reports from the S.C. Department of Education.
GSSM’s graduates, now enrolled in their first year of studies atcolleges and universities across South Carolina and the nation, scoredan average of 30.2 on the ACT’s 36-point exam and 2020 out of a possible2400 on the SAT.
The ACT is a curriculum-based achievement exam designed to measure theacademic skills that are taught in schools and deemed important forsuccess in first-year college courses. The SAT is an implied learningtest that measures how students think based on their experiences both inand out of the classroom setting.
The 2010 average composite scores for all Palmetto State seniors(including private and home school students) was 20.0 on the ACT and1443 on the SAT.
The outstanding achievement of the Governor’s School students is agreat tribute to them and to their families, said Dr. Murray Brockman,GSSM president. When significant talent is combined with a commitmentto hard work, great things always happen!
The newly released scores are those of the students who graduated in2010, regardless of when they took the test during their high schoolcareers, and include the ACT’s four tests: English, mathematics, readingand science reasoning; or the SAT’s critical reading, math and writingtests. Scores are reported in each of those as well as the overallcomposite.
GSSM is a public, residential high school for academically talented andmotivated juniors and seniors. It offers college-level courses and ahands-on curriculum with a special focus on science, math, technologyand research, along with new concentrations in economics andentrepreneurship.
The ACT is the predominant college entrance exam in about half of thestates, while the College Board’s SAT dominates the other half. Althoughthe SAT is still South Carolina’s most popular college-entrance exam, arecord 17,342 public high school graduates took the ACT for 2010, upfrom 12,159 in 2006, according to the S.C. Department of Education.
Of GSSM’s 60 students who graduated in May, more than half are attendingSouth Carolina colleges and universities this fall. Notableout-of-state schools attended by GSSM graduates of 2010 include Yale,Emory, Georgetown, Drexel, Brown and Wellesley.
In 2010, GSSM also led Palmetto State high schools with the largest number of National Merit Semifinalists.
About GSSM
GSSM is a two-year,public, residential high school in Hartsville, S.C., specializing inthe advanced study of science and mathematics. Over its 20-year history,GSSM has graduated more than 1,200 alumni from every county in SouthCarolina. Many are now leaders in such critical fields as engineering,medicine, education, law, science, technology, research and business.Its residential program serves 128 high school juniors and seniors ayear with a concentrated study of science and math, alongside rigorouscourses in the humanities, to prepare graduates to excel as leaders inthe state’s 21st-century economy. Newsweek and The Washington Post haveranked GSSM among the Top 20 public elite high schools in thecountry. In March, GSSM announced the launch of its new Economics andFinance Institute, an exciting new initiative that will infuse the studyof economics into current course offerings. Const! ruction wasrecently completed on two new wings that will allow GSSM to more thandouble the size of its student body, expanding this unique learningprogram to even more of the state’s promising young minds.
