For Third Consecutive Year, LHS Students Post Highest ACT Scores in School History

For the third year in a row, is celebrating a record-setting academic performance by its students.

The ACT corporation's recent release of composite scores for the Class of 2011 showed that Lemont's most recent graduates posted the highest scores in school history, District 210 officials announced Monday.

Graduating seniors posted an average ACT composite score of 23.0, . This score is a full 2.4 points better than the average composite for all Illinois students.

LHS Principal Thomas Trengove attributed much of the students' success on the exam to the school's academic curriculum.

"When a school gets good ACT scores, I think it's always fair to say that it has a lot to do with putting the kids through a strong program in the years leading up to the test," he said.

The Class of 2011 also matched or improved in three of the exam's four testing categories — mathematics, English and science. The students' average score in reading, 22.7, was the best in school history.

The Class of 2011's average scores were:

• 23.0 in mathematics
• 22.7 in reading
• 22.9 in English
• 22.8 in science

LHS has improved upon its composite score in five out of the last six years, raising the average 1.6 points since the Class of 2006 took the exam. The success has been especially noteworthy to LHS administrators because the school's student body has increased by more than 40 percent since 2002.

Starting with the Class of 2002, all juniors in Illinois were required to take the ACT as part of the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE). The exam previously was limited to college-bound students.

The ACT corporation uses graduating students' most recent scores from a national testing date or PSAE testing.

Lemont High School's continued success on the exam was further highlighted this summer when it was announced that .