In many ways, students applying to college are just a number.

According to NPR, “standardized tests remain a central part in determining which students get accepted at many schools.” As a result, students try to prepare themselves however they can so that those numbers are as high as possible.

Many CHS students opt to take classes with Central PA Test Prep, created by CHS teachers Kristy Shinn and Dana Smetana, also includes CHS math and English teachers Kathy Schwang and Kirsten Stewart, respectively.

The program preps students for the SAT, ACT, PSAT, AP English and AP Calculus exams. Additionally, the business also “specializes in SAT non-calculator math” or “you can take one just on the ACT sciences,” among other specific areas, described Shinn.

Held in the Swartz building, many classes still remain for the duration of the spring.

Shinn said, “We prepare students for exams by helping them get familiar with the test…and it’s a lot of practice.”

Junior Ellie Tate recommends the class because the “teachers were supportive and had lots of strategies unique to every student.”

Similarly, junior Reghan Ruf found it useful that it made “sure the students knew what the testing environment would be like.”

According to Shinn, Central PA Test Prep offers students resources “that they don’t learn anywhere else.”

Central PA Test Prep is yet another tool offered at CHS to get them ready for success beyond high school.