Bardstown High sophomore admitted to Gatton Academy in Bowling Green

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Tuesday, March 29, 2016, 7:30 p.m. — A Bardstown High School sophomore has been selected for admission to the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Bowling Green.

Wendy Cecil, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Cecil from Bardstown, is one of 100 Kentucky sophomores named to the Class of 2018. She will begin her junior year in August attending the Gatton Academy.

“Our admissions process was as competitive this year as any other,” said Director of The Gatton Academy Dr. Lynette Breedlove. “We are very excited to take our first class of 100 students as The Gatton Academy’s expansion begins. The Class of 2018 is a remarkable group of students from across the Commonwealth. The depth of the applicant pool this year supports the legislature’s decision to expand The Academy to serve more of Kentucky’s exceptional students.”

Applicants were evaluated based on ACT/SAT scores, high school grades, awards, extracurricular activities, responses to essay and short answer questions, and letters of recommendation. In addition to these criteria, last month, 165 candidates were invited to interview with WKU faculty members, community leaders from across the Commonwealth, and Gatton Academy alumni.

The selected students scored an average composite of 30.51 on the ACT and 29.88 on the mathematics portion of the exam. The highest possible score is a 36.

Students from 50 counties represent the Class of 2018. Morgan County will have a student attend The Gatton Academy for the first time, while the following counties had a second student admitted in The Gatton Academy’s nine-year history: Ballard, Caldwell, Casey, Fulton, Grayson and Lawrence.

The goal of The Gatton Academy is to enable Kentucky’s exceptional young scientists and mathematicians to learn in an environment that offers advanced educational opportunities, preparing them for leadership roles in Kentucky. Moreover, The Gatton Academy assists in preparing Kentucky to compete in a knowledge-based economy by increasing the number of scientists and engineers who live and work in the state.

Students will complete their junior and senior years of high school living in newly expanded Florence Schneider Hall. At the end of their two-year course of study, students will graduate from high school with a minimum of 60 college credit hours.

The Gatton Academy is Kentucky’s first state-supported, residential program for high school students with interests in advanced science and math careers and one of only 15 such programs in the nation. In 2012 and 2013, Newsweek named The Gatton Academy the nation’s top public high school and in 2014, The Daily Beast named The Gatton Academy the nation’s top public high school.

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