Vestavia Hills High School football stadium
Vestavia Hills High School students surpassed the state’s average ACT score by several points.
Students in the Class of 2015 received an average score of 25.3 out of 36 points. The average for the state of Alabama was 19.1. This difference in score is the largest between the VHHS average and the state average in five years.
Juniors who took the ACT through the Alabama State Department of Education also exceeded the state average. VHHS students received an average score of 24.8, and the state average was 18.3.
Vestavia Hills City Schools communications and media specialist Whit McGhee said every member of the junior class took the ACT. Starting last school year, the state pays for students to take the ACT once.
“This is a new thing. You talk about a lot of students getting added in that field, particularly because a lot of students in their junior year don’t take the ACT,” McGhee said.
The number of students choosing to take the ACT has since increased, McGhee said, and the average score remains impressive.
“To see that number when we expanded the population of students that’s taking the test is pretty remarkable,” McGhee said.
More than half of the students also met the four ACT benchmark scores. These scores indicate a 50 percent change of earning a B or higher in core college classes, according to the testing company.
“We are very excited about our students’ performance on the ACT, especially given that all students [in their junior year] participated,” said VHHS Principal Tyler Burgess. “The cumulative affect of support and outstanding instruction beginning in kindergarten in VHCS helps our students achieve. We want to celebrate that success, but also to improve with each new class of students taking this assessment.”
