Derby High School SAT scores recognized for improvement

By Faith Anderson

This year, Derby High School’s increase in SAT scores got state recognition. While other schools’ scores in the state were slightly decreasing, Derby’s continued to keep growing, rising, and improving. Only 15 schools in the state of Connecticut improved their ELA and math scores. Derby is proudly one of those 15 of those schools. 

While Derby High School’s scores are getting recognized, there was a lot of work going on in the background that helped Derby to grow. According to Derby High School’s Principal Jennifer Olson, “ We have made some changes during that time that were not consistent with other districts. Our students came back to in-person learning before everybody else did. If you remember, we came back but a lot of schools either stayed partially remote at the beginning of the school year and some didn’t return until much later. We were here full 5 days a week in person, new curriculums the teachers were using, an opportunity for teachers to go through professional development, and also kids had access to SAT prep courses. We think all those things combined were really helpful for us.” All these techniques really showed a positive impact on Derby High School and the SAT scores prove that themselves. 

Superintendent Matthew Conway states, “ Derby has shown growth in scores pre-pandemic. The significance of this year was that most schools saw a decrease in their scores while Derby continued to show a rise even during the pandemic– there is always greater potential to prepare, practice and strive toward.” Derby has shown growth and improvement and with new opportunities and resources, they can continue to improve going forward.

Conway states, “This has been a very strong indicator in individuals’ performance on the exam to include students meeting their growth target as well as scoring higher on the exam to students not opting to take the class.”