(COVINGTON, La.) — Today, the entire St. Paul’s junior class will be taking the ACT on the school campus. St. Paul’s, known for having high average ACT scores, is expected to breeze through the test once again. The whole-grade test is being administered at St. Paul’s for the second time, and the faculty has noticed a difference in the scores of tests taken during school and tests taken outside of the school day. “We’ve noticed that the students perform better on the ACT when at school,” said junior guidance counselor Christine Woodard. “Students tend to do better in a familiar environment and they tend to know the material better during the school week.” St. Paul’s is one of the only private schools in the state, along with sister school St. Scholastica Academy, who will also be administering the test to the entire junior class today, that offers its students the opportunity to take the ACT on campus during a school day. “We had to send in an application to be able to do it,” Woodard said, who noted that a lot of planning went into making this test ready to be given out to the students. SPS President Bro. Ray Bulliard reported in his weekly newsletter that the average ACT score of St. Paul’s class of 2014 was a 25.9, over four points higher than the parish average of 21.5 and the national average of 21. In 2012, the state made it a requirement for all juniors to take the ACT at least once a year, in turn bringing the parish average down. However, when St. Paul’s juniors took the test, they scored higher than Mandeville High, which had the highest average in the parish of public schools, as reported by the St. Tammany Parish School Board. The ACT is a big part of getting into college, so many feel it is incredibly convenient that the faculty is able to give the test on campus during a school day. For those unable to take the test today, the next opportunity will be Saturday, April 18, on St. Paul’s campus. The registration deadline for the April test in Friday, March 27. Click here to register for the April 18 ACT test. For information on ACT test prep, click here.