York High Reverses Slide In SAT Scores

ELMHURST, IL – For the first time in three years, York High School saw an increase in its SAT scores in reading, writing and math, the school district reported Wednesday.

The state is expected to release school districts' test scores and other statistics next week. But Elmhurst School District 205 presented the numbers at a school board meeting. (Schools get an early look.)

Last school year, 55 percent of York's students met the state's reading and writing benchmarks on the SAT and 53 percent met them in math. That's up from 52 percent and 50 percent, respectively, the previous year.

But the numbers are still down from what York was seeing before the pandemic. Back then, nearly two-thirds of students were meeting standards in reading, writing and math.

"We are excited we have seen an increase in students meeting this threshold after three years of declining proficiency," said Kerry Leuschel, the district's director of secondary education.

Last year, the school got bad news with its SAT scores, with the percentages of York students meeting state standards declining by a few percentage points.

After the state released the data at the time, the district issued a new release pointing to gains in elementary and middle schools. But the release said nothing about the drop in the high school's numbers.

During a later school board meeting, an official showed the chart with York's SAT scores as part of a larger presentation. But he breezed past it, without mentioning the decline.