MCPS students may not be getting smarter, but their SAT scores have hit a historic high.

The average SAT score for a MCPS student went up 39 points this year, increasing to an average score of 1653 points.

Some of the increase can be attributed to the Seven Keys to College Readiness, a program instituted by superintendent Jerry Weast in 2009, said Dana Tofig, MCPS director of public information.  The program is designed to prepare students for college from elementary school through high school by laying out seven steps a student must take if he or she wants to get into college.

These steps include taking an advanced reading class in fifth grade and taking Algebra 2 by eleventh grade.

“The Seven Keys program encourages students to take rigorous classes and prepare themselves for college at an early age,” Tofig said.  “Students have been demonstrating that preparation on the SAT.”

The Seven Keys program aims to have all MCPS students scoring a 1650 on their SAT’s by 2014.

Whitman was the highest-scoring school in the county for the third year in a row, principal Alan Goodwin said.

On average, Maryland SAT scores increased by five points last year, rising to an average score of 1502.  The national average was 1509, the same as it was in 2009.