On the first day of their last year of high school, the Class of 2018 received some pleasantly surprising news regarding the Smarter Balance Testing Consortium(SBAC) test, which they took in the spring of their junior year: the seniors learned that they will be rewarded with a trip to Magic Mountain as a result of their accomplishment of exceeding the previous year’s scores.

This is the first time in almost six years that students have done well enough to qualify for the Magic Mountain incentive, and the senior class is buzzing.

Vineta Sondors ‘18 said, “honestly I thought it wasn’t probable because […] there are so many kids who aren’t going to care about it, but the fact that we did reach that goal is really good to hear.”

The news was also a surprise because the previous year’s scores were already higher than expected, but the Class of 2018 rose to the occasion, raising the mathematical grade results from 52 to 60 percent and the English results from 74 to 86 percent.

Troy Lindemann ‘18 believes that this year’s juniors “should want to try better than us and beat our scores.”

Overall, Principal Joe Bova is very proud of the work that the students did, noting how one of the wonderful qualities that makes Foothill academics such a strong suite for the school is how students here truly “take pride in their school and they want to do well.”