The school hosted the SAT on Thursday, Oct. 28. This marks the second straight year of SHS-administered testing, due to the continued prevalence of seniors being unable to find a testing location during the pandemic. 

The PSAT was scheduled as normal on a Saturday, but the administration again decided to change the SAT testing day for seniors to a Thursday. 

The school mandated seniors to come to school at 8 a.m. to check in at their locations, which ranged from the library to the multi-purpose room. While many appreciated the better preparation, others found certain aspects difficult to deal with as school was in session.

“I took it in the library, and there were announcements going off while we were doing the writing section which was somewhat distracting,” senior Karen Chen said. “But overall, I’m grateful that the parents and staff came together to give us the opportunity to take the test, especially amongst the COVID-19 restrictions. It was a good experience and I appreciate their efforts.”

While the PSAT was exclusive to juniors last year, the administration allowed for freshmen, sophomores and juniors to take the test this year on Oct. 16, provided test-takers follow COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines. A total of 324 Saratoga students signed up for the PSAT. 

According to guidance administrative assistant Gita Ramanathan, administrators struggled to find parent volunteers to run the PSAT. Ultimately, though, enough parents and staff volunteered so that it was able to run with just barely enough supervisors. 

Ramanathan also noted that the check-in process took far longer than she expected and resulted in a later end time than projected.

With these testing issues in mind, the administration took extra care when planning for the senior-only SAT administration just two weeks later.