SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- Two hundred students from three Central Coast schools took the California High School Exit Exams and Standardized Tests and all came away with a perfect score.
The students at Righetti, Pioneer Valley and Santa Maria High School didn't do anything special but got there through their hard work.
Every day, Santa Maria High School student Kimberly Kakuk hears that school bell, she thinks of all the things her teachers at taught her.
'I followed my teachers' rules. I took notes everyday and I just reviewed over and over," says Kakuk.
And all her hard work paid off. She got a perfect score on the California High School Exit Exam in Math.
And she's not alone. Other students at Righetti, Pioneer Valley and Santa Maria High School also got perfect scores in either English or Math.
Santa Maria High School principal Joe Domingues says part of the reason is due to the use of weekend boot camps to diagnose each area students struggle with.
The school also sets aside class times within their schedules solely for studying for the exams.
"The majority of the reason why these students have scored perfectly is that we just have solid instruction," says Domingues.
And that instruction has helped the high school score higher and higher each year.
Out of all the schools in the district, Santa Maria High School posted some of the highest gains in its academic performance index of almost 40 points in the last two years.
Twenty-six students at Santa Maria High School got perfect scores and the principal says next year he hopes to make it 30.
And Kim says she was excited to learn she was one of the students who got a perfect score.
"It was amazing because I didn't think I was that smart," says Kakuk. "I didn't know my capabilities were up that high."
