Cornerstone’s ACT scores beat nation’s

Cornerstone Christian Academy again is leading the way with ACT scores higher than the county, state and national averages.

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Cornerstone, a private school, located at 3850 Frankfort Road, reported a composite score of 23.1. Although down from last year’s 25, the score still outpaces the county’s public school average of 18.8, the state average of 19.8 and the national average of 21.1

“We’re very pleased with our students’ scores,” said Melanie West, the director of admissions and development for the school. “We know that students in our program for five years or more are able to perform well on the test.”

The school’s scores were higher than the national, state and county averages in all categories, with the largest gap coming in English, in which Cornerstone’s 24.2 was 6.5 points higher than Shelby County, 4.7 higher than the state and 3.7 higher than the nation. The rest of the school’s scores were 21.2 in math, 24.7 in reading and 22.2 in science.

West said she’s not exactly sure if the results are only juniors, or if it includes seniors from last year. Kentucky legislation requires that every junior in Kentucky take the test as a college readiness standard for public schools.

Cornerstone does not require that juniors take the test. Cornerstone’s report includes nine students, and Shelby County’s junior ACT report included 461 students and the state’s was the average of more than 44,500.

West said Cornerstone’s program and curriculum support these high scores.

“The reason why our scores are so high is the program,” she said. “From small class sizes to top-notch faculty and a competitive curriculum, students are tested here, and I think these scores are a testament to it.”

The school does offer help in a different kind of way, as well.

“We offer an ACT prep course as an elective for our secondary students,” she said. The course is offered during the regular school day instead as an after-school or weekend class. This year Cornerstone has 15 students enrolled in the class.

West said Cornerstone is committed to students scoring well on the test, but it’s different than public schools.

“It’s not used as a measure for us. We don’t receive or lose any money if students do well. We don’t get any state funds,” she said. “But we do give help for the ACT. It’s a college readiness assessor, and we want our students to do well so they can be eligible for financial aid. That’s something that is very important to our school and our students.”