Houston County students top state and national SAT averages for ninth straight year

The district’s Class of 2025 scored 75 points higher than the national average, continuing a nine-year streak of strong performance on the SAT.

HOUSTON COUNTY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – For the ninth straight year, Houston County students have outperformed both state and national averages on the SAT, with the Class of 2025 earning an average score of 1,071.

That total is 75 points higher than the national average and 42 points above the state average, according to the Georgia Department of Education.

Houston County students outperformed their peers nationwide by 41 points in reading and writing and by 34 points in math. Houston County High School Principal Jay Jones says the scores reflect the hard work of both students and teachers.

“To be scoring above the national average means, yeah, we’re leading the way in the state, but we’ve gone beyond that, and that’s our district’s vision — to be global, to be the standard of education worldwide,” said Jones.

A total of 919 students in Houston County took the SAT this year. Jones says daily effort from teachers across grade levels plays a key role in that success.

“I attribute the daily work of all of our teachers in the district and in all of our high schools. And before — we’re prepping students in middle school and elementary school. Especially in that area I mentioned, getting those students reading on grade level and above grade level. Reading and writing is a big portion of the SAT, so if we’re doing that daily in the classrooms, it makes sense that our score is above average,” said Jones.

Houston County High School counselor Jenny Dykes says the district works closely with students to help them prepare.

“I think our district does a great job of preparing students just through the rigor of the classes that our students have access to, and that’s what helps them perform so high on the SAT,” said Dykes.

Dykes says test prep also helps with college readiness.

“Higher SAT scores help students be more competitive for the colleges they’re trying to get into. We have a lot of students that will retake the SAT several times to improve those scores so they can get into the college of their dreams,” said Dykes.

Principal Jones says they’ll continue pushing for excellence.

“We will continue to push our students. We’ll make sure every day at Houston County High we expect excellence from our kids, and that means we expect excellence from our teachers, and teachers expect excellence from their own students,” said Jones.

All five high schools in the district will continue SAT prep throughout the year.