BALDWIN PARK – Sierra Vista High School students are pulling in stellar SAT and PSAT scores, including senior Robert Sotelo’s nearly perfect score of 1560 on the SAT, bolstered by the District’s focus on college readiness.

SVHS junior Leyna Huynh achieved a 1400 on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualification Test and junior Winston Le received a 1370, both elite-level performances that could put them in the running for the National Merit Scholarships.

Sierra Vista High School offered to pay the PSAT costs for sophomores and juniors to remove a financial barrier that may discourage some students from focusing on their college opportunities.

“We want to make sure that students are offered every option to succeed and prepare for college,” SVHS academic counselor Abigail Villegas said. “The opportunities and programs we provide for PSAT and SAT preparation put the needs of our students first so that we can set them up to do well on the exams.”

This year, SVHS opened the campus as a testing site so that students would not have to travel far to a testing location.

Sierra Vista also provided PSAT and SAT workshops that focus on problem areas for students. Workshops include practice tests and interactive problem-solving.

Sotelo is a re-designated English learner and a Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) student who attended Kenmore Elementary and Sierra Vista Junior High School.

“This means that I’m one step closer to getting into college,” Sotelo said.

On the 2019 California School Dashboard, Baldwin Park Unified saw growth in college and career readiness with a 2.2 percent increase from last year.

PHOTOS:

SVHS_SOTELO: Robert Sotelo, a senior at Sierra Vista High School, earned an outstanding score of 1560 on the SAT, placing him only 40 points away from a perfect score.

SVHS_PSAT: SVHS juniors Leyna Huynh and Winston Le were celebrated for earning standout scores on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualification Test. Huynh earned a 1400 and Le received a 1370.