South Windsor High School offers a semester-long SAT prep course in the fall to help prepare students for that year’s spring SAT.
In accordance with the structure of the SAT, there is a math and reading portion of the SAT prep course each taught by a different teacher. This year, SWHS math teacher, Andrew Brindisi, was in charge of the math section, and SWHS social studies teacher, Kevin Quinn, handled the reading section.
Students took one portion per quarter, swtiching to the other course at the halfway point of the semester. Meaning, if they took the reading portion with Quinn the first quarter, they would then take the math portion with Brindisi the second, and vice versa.
The math portion takes on an especially individualized approach, since students are coming from a variety of different skill levels.
“The focus of class is kind of building on the skills they have,” explained Brindisi in an interview with The Prowl. “Just really [focusing on] improvement from where they started.”
While Brindisi isn’t told how his students did on the actual SAT, he’s noticed up to 200 point improvements in the scores between the pre- and post- test they did on Bluebook.
Students, however, are well aware of their spring SAT scores, and now have the opportunity to reflect on their performance.
Junior Bella Giammarino took the SAT prep course this fall and said that it was helpful for her on the spring SAT.
I would recommend the class to people who care a lot about their score and are motivated to fix it.
— Isabella Giammarino
She explained that students in her class reviewed how to use a calculator and were taught through Khan Academy during the math portion of the course.
On the other side, during the reading portion, students studied Latin root words and practiced identifying and answering a variety of questions that they would encounter on the SAT.
By the end of the course, Giammarino’s score had increased by 110 points.
With the spring SAT done, teachers and upcoming juniors alike are preparing for another round of the SAT prep course to be offered next year.
