Published October 3, 2024
BY NICOLE MIRSKI
After concerns from both parents and students about the sparse and distant SAT testing locations, Carmel High School administrators have decided to open up the campus for the Scholastic Aptitude Test on Oct. 5 and March 8.
Because of the decline in students taking standardized tests like the SAT or ACT, many testing centers around the Central Coast have shut down, leaving few sites within a reasonable 50-mile radius, like Seaside High School and Santa Cruz High School, that are approved by College Board, the organization that provides tests such as the SAT and Advanced Placement. These few sites fill their limited seats quickly.
“The benefit would be offering students a place to test that is on their home turf in a familiar environment,” says counselor Darren Johnston, who coordinates with College Board for AP tests. “It’s also in a location that doesn’t require them to travel an hour, two hours or three hours, which has happened in the past.”
(graphic by NICOLE MIRSKI)
Even with the difficulty of finding an offering school not too far away, there is a chance the SAT testing site might shut down the week before, leaving both parents and students searching for a better option, which Carmel hopes to provide. Whereas some sites allow hundreds of students to test, CHS is only providing 50 spots in order to give the process a test run.
While the point of administering the SAT on campus was to provide Carmel students accessibility and some sense of calm for an anxiety-inducing test, according to CHS assistant principal Laurel Gast, it’s impossible to reserve or open up seats for specific students or schools. This means that there is a high chance that a lot, if not the majority, of these seats have gone to students not just at CHS, but around the Monterey Peninsula, and maybe even further, since the center’s 50 seats filled up within the first day of opening.
“We’re starting small to make sure we’re okay with all the College Board’s requirements, which is always how I like to go,” says SAT coordinator Gast. “If it all works and we have the staff, we can continue and grow the number of students.”
Another issue that has come up is finding CUSD staff who will work the first Saturday morning of October break to proctor the test. In order to host the SAT, there needs to be a minimum of two proctors for the 50 students, adding more for hall monitors and extra proctors if another room needs to be opened for those testing with accommodations.
“One of the things that I’m nervous about, to be honest, is our WiFi, and [the SAT] is now a digital test,” says Gast. “It’s one of the reasons we’re starting small. We were able to give the PSAT for about 80 students last year, and it worked fine, but we’re still keeping it small because I would hate to have people rely on us and it become a mess.”
In order to try to fix this issue, all students who attend CHS must bring their school-issued Chromebooks. For those outside the district, a loaner Chromebook will be provided and must be used to test.
More information about SAT registration can be found at collegeboard.org.
