By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — Their junior year was cut short. Their senior year, fractured.

Yet, the Staples High School Class of 2021 had higher college acceptance rates and higher college admission test scores than the two classes that preceded them, school officials told the Board of Education this week.

“By and large, our students ended up in a really good place,” Bill Plunkett, director of guidance at Staples, said during a presentation to the board Monday.

That “good place” was achieved despite campus tours conducted virtually, changes in college admission practices and continued uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The graduating Class of 2021 endured unprecedented hardships,” Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice told the board.

Still, out of a class of about 450 grads, 116 were accepted into all the colleges they applied to, according to school officials.

The Staples ’21 seniors applied to 462 different post-secondary institutions and settled on 151 they planned to attend.

Other statistics cited in report

● The overall acceptance rate was 55.1 percent for the class, down slightly from the year before, but only because the Class of 2021 applied to more colleges.

● On average, each Staples grad filed 8.2 college applications, more than usual.

● There was a slight decrease in Staples students going on to attend a two- or four-year college.

● More than 92 percent said they planned to attend four-year schools.

● When all was said and done, 2.8 percent decided to take a gap year, which is higher than normal.

In 2021, there was an overall 3.2 percent decline in college enrollment nationwide.

While the number of colleges nationwide that make SAT and ACT test optional for admission continues to increase, Staples students scored better on both tests than the two classes that preceded them.

Plunkett called that remarkable considering that today’s tests are less coachable than those given in the past.

The number of students in the class taking Advanced Placement tests and passing them declined slightly, officials said. In 2021, it was 88 percent with a score of 3 or better compared to 94 percent the year before.

Where did Staples Class of 2021 go?

While the senior year experience was different for the Class of 2021, there is a consistent pattern of where they applied and decided to attend.

The University of Connecticut remains the school with the largest number of applications from Westport grads. Last year, the state’s flagship school fielded 134 applications from Staples seniors.

Rounding out the top 10 list were: University of Miami, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan, Indiana University, Northeastern University, University of Maryland, Penn State, University of Texas and Cornell.

Essentially, the top 20 colleges where Staples students apply remain the same year in and year out, Plunkett said.

As for the schools the graduates actually attend, 16 each enrolled at UConn and Syracuse, and 15 accepted a spot in Indiana University’s freshman class this fall.

As for Connecticut schools, after UConn’s main campus, another seven Staples graduates went to UConn Stamford and six enrolled at Norwalk Community College.

The school district also keeps track of acceptance rates for Staples students at higher-education institutions that are harder to gain admission.

Staples did better than the national average in that regard. Harvard, for instance, has a national 3 percent acceptance rate, while 15 percent of those Staples students who applied got in. Yale accepts 5 percent nationally, but said yes to 9 percent of the Staples students who applied.

Students give high marks

Staples Principal Stafford Thomas said despite all the challenges the Class of 2021 faced, it was a successful year.

There were six National Merit Scholars in the class.

A survey suggests most of the graduates were happy with their experience:

● 86 percent of students reported feeling very satisfied or satisfied with their post-high school outcomes.

● The three most important factors in the college search and selection process they named were: Staples’ academic programs, location of the college and activities, and campus life offered at those institutions.

Several written comments were pulled from the survey and shared with the school board.

One student would advise this year’s seniors not to let others’ post-secondary selection process influence their decisions.

“You are forging your own path,” the student wrote.

 Another wrote: “Nothing is the wrong choice as long as you are happy with what you will be doing.”

Of all the statistics, board member Lee Goldstein said the 86 percent student satisfaction rate stood out the most.

“That made me really happy,” she said.

Post-high school planning at Staples, carried out by a team of counselors, includes a series of presentations that begin freshman year, career exploration webinars, individual meetings, workshops and resources to not only make sure students are prepared but grounded, balanced and able to handle the pressure to excel.

“We are doing a lot,” said Thomas, adding that 99.6 percent of Staples seniors have a post-high school plan going into senior year.

Board member Jeannie Smith, the parent of a student new to Staples, said she has listened to some of the webinars and found them helpful.

“It really made it accommodating to parents,” Smith said.

Board member Elaine Whitney asked if the district does follow-up surveys to find out where Staples alumni end up five years out.

Scarice said although sources of that information are sometimes unreliable, attempts to gather that data are underway.