Wallkill Valley students score record highs on SATs

HAMBURG — Wallkill Valley Regional High School students had the second-highest SAT scores in Sussex County, the highest scores in the school's history.

A proud Interim Superintendent Robert Walker made the announcment to the Board of Education on Sept. 23.

According to reports generated by the New Jersey Department of Education and the U.S. Census Bureau, and compiled by Inside Jersey magazine, Wallkill Valley reported a SAT composite total from the 2012-13 school year of a 1530. Sparta High School's composite score was a 1582, the highest in the county.

According to Walker, the composite scores for the class of 2014 was a 1553, a 23-point increase over the previous year.

“I have already challenged this year’s class that they have to beat the 1553," Walker said. "We are doing some things that are putting some emphasis on academics. All the kids that made high honor roll last year, we had a breakfast for them last week."

With a high emphasis on academics and a push for the students to perform at their very best, Walker intends to take down the bulletin board in the front of the school and replace it with a “Wall of Fame for the Arts.”

The wall will consist of the names of those student’s that have achieved at least 700 on each section of the SATs.

"We will be honoring the teams that win Math Leagues and Science Leagues," he said. "All the kids that showed they were leaders will be honored. We want to show the kids how proud we are of them."