Big Spring’s first SAT School Day exam took place on April 10. This is the first year that the college board has given each district the chance to have the SAT take place at their school. In the past, the SAT School Day exam was only offered to districts who were contracted through the college board with 100% need.

Previously students had to take the exam at Carlisle High School on a Saturday.

Counselor, Judith Creps, who coordinated this exam, said, “When I heard that the college board was opening up the SAT School Day up to any school district to administer, I thought this was a great opportunity for our students.”

One of the reasons that Creps was so excited about this new opportunity given to Big Spring, is the increased number of students taking the test. Previously students had not been able to attend do to lack of transportation or constraints such as family, work, or extracurricular activities.

Creps said, “Last year, March of 2017, we had 41 juniors register for the SAT exam and go to Carlisle to take it. This year because we offered it in our building, we had 77 juniors take advantage of it. That is 33 more students.”

It is believed that students will do better because stress is lower due to testing in a familiar environment, and students already know the staff giving the exam. The results won’t be back until May, and that is when the full impact of this change will be seen. 

Creps said of the experience, “It was a lot to do, but I would do it again because it helped our students.”