Students at Kingwood Christian School are making a name for themselves when it comes to academic achievement.

Seniors at the school who took Stanford Achievement Tests this spring earned an average national percentile rank of 76.

The schools’ highest SAT ranking was at the 88th national percentile. The scores showed an eight percent improvement for Kingwood Christian from the prior year.

&uot;Academically, we’re going in the right direction,&uot; Kingwood Christian principal Dawn Hensley said.

&uot;We’re already planning on starting some new plans in programs this coming year to help our students so we’ll likely see those scores go up even more.&uot;

The school’s ACT score has also risen in the national rankings, averaging three points higher per test than last year’s scores.

Two students in particular from the Alabaster school have made impressive strides academically on both the local and national levels.

Senior Elizabeth Sims won the Alabama State History contest on May 13, competing against students from both private and public schools in the state.

Sims presented a display titled &uot;Dear Beth – Wartime Letters of Sydney Carter.&uot; The display examined letter written between a confederate solider and his wife during the civil war.

&uot;It was really exciting to win the competition,&uot; Sims said. &uot;I’ve done the history contest for the past three years but this was my first time to go to state.&uot;

Sims will go on to compete at the University of Maryland this July for the National History title.

&uot;I’m excited to go to that area around Washington D.C. because of all the history that’s up there,&uot; she said.

&uot;We’re very proud of what Beth has been able to accomplish,&uot; Hensley said.

Joining Sims in the academic spotlight was Kingwood senior Jessica Burgess.

Burgess was named to the Alabama Independent School Association’s All State Academic Team and has received a four-year scholarship to Birmingham-Southern College.

&uot;Jessica is a very talented young lady who has excelled in academics,&uot; Hensley said.

Burgess also founded the school’s &uot;Lean on Me&uot; program that helps new students at Kingwood Christian acclimate to the school.

Kingwood Christian was founded in 1979 as a ministry of the Kingwood Assembly of God Church. The school graduated 37 seniors this year.

&uot;We definitely want to see our students succeed academically,&uot; Hensley said. &uot;Looking at these scores we can see that we’re definitely on the right track.&uot;