Bowdon High School is celebrating being named regional champion in the Governor’s Cup Challenge for having the largest numerical improvement in its SAT scores over the past three years.

The challenge is based on the high school athletic association regions and classifications. Bowdon is the 6A region winner.

In 2006-2007, Bowdon High School students’ average SAT score was 1418 while the Carroll County Schools average was 1441. That average rose in 2007-2008 to 1497, above the county schools average of 1438. This past school year, Bowdon students averaged 1514, higher than the state average of 1470 and the national average of 1509.

“We just have a fantastic faculty,” Principal Travis Thomas said. “Our community is very supportive. ... Our students are held to high standards by their parents, too. I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s a team process.”

The school was notified by the Georgia Department of Education on Friday afternoon of the award, but was instructed to keep it a secret until all the winners were announced. It was a tough secret to keep, Thomas said.

“We wanted to announce it at our football game,” Thomas said. “(We wanted) to make sure our community knew about it and we were told, ‘You can’t do that.’”

The small school has an enrollment of about 470 and Thomas, who is in his second year as principal of the school, believes that is an advantage.

“Being a small school, we know our students,” he said. “It’s really difficult for students to fall through the cracks because of our size. I think, additionally, with that we’re able to look at each student and their individual needs.”

The school has made big gains in its math scores, adding 71 points over the last three years. This past year, students scored an average of 542 in math, high enough to bring the school into the top 26 for math scores in the state. That is partially a gift from the middle school education the students are receiving, Thomas said.

“I know that this past year the 2009 graduates, there were several of those students who took algebra 1 and geometry at the middle school level,” he said. “We kind of reaped the benefits of that.”

The school has also gained in the verbal and writing portions of the test, 13 in reading and 12 in writing. One reason is the school’s expectations of the students.

Bowdon High School has focused on improving its students’ scores by offering advanced placement classes. Students will rise to the challenge if they are encouraged to take the most rigorous course they can, Thomas said. It’s also a great way to get them ready for college.

The school is still working on improving its scores both on the SAT and the Georgia High School Graduation Test by offering a new SAT preparation class to its students this year.

“That was something we didn’t have in place previously,” Thomas said. “We’re always working to continue to improve.”

The Governor’s Cup Challenge was created in 2003 as part of an effort to bring up SAT scores across the state.

For its dramatic increase in scores, the system will receive a trophy and $1,000 award. Thomas plans to put that money into instruction and college readiness education. The school hasn’t planned a celebration yet, but is going to have one.

“We’ll definitely think of something,” he said. “We’re certainly very proud of our students and our faculty and the community.”