NATCHEZ &045; ACT scores at Adams County Christian School, compared to scores released this week by other area schools, fall somewhere in the middle.

The school average for last year’s ACCS graduates was 21, the same as the previous year’s average.

Of 52 total students who took the test, those in college preparatory courses scored an average of 26. Those not on the college prep track scored an average of 19, Counselor Micholyn Barnes said.

Students who begin preparing for college by taking rigorous courses in ninth-grade typically score higher on the college prep test, administrators and state officials say.

In scores released last Thursday, Cathedral High students scored an average of 22.5. But the 12 students ranked in the top one-fourth of the class had an average composite score of 26.5.

Natchez High seniors averaged 16.8 and Concordia Parish seniors scored 18.2.

The public school average in Mississippi is 18.7 and 19.8 in Louisiana.

The national average is 20.9.

A perfect score on the test is a 36. Most southern colleges require the test as an admittance exam.

Trinity Episcopal School did not release ACT scores to the public.