Way to Go! Jade Pinkenburg of Rocky Point
Jade Pinkenburg, a junior at Rocky Point High School, had a perfect ACT composite score of 36. Credit: Rocky Point School District
A Rocky Point High School junior with a range of achievements has added one more: a perfect ACT composite score of 36.
Jade Pinkenburg, 16, took the college admissions test in December.
“My jaw just dropped,” he said of learning his score. “The practice test went well, but on the actual exam I thought I had more time than I did.”
Each year, only one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the ACT, or less, achieve a perfect score, test experts say. More than 2 million students nationwide took the exam in 2016.
At Rocky Point, Pinkenburg is captain of the robotics team, vice president of the science club, a math tutor, and a member of the math team, Math Honor Society and debate, guitar and human rights clubs. The robotics team placed fifth overall in a national competition in the 2015-16 school year and second place in the programming category under his leadership.
He also is a member of his school’s spring track and field team, plays bass in the orchestra and volunteers at the North Shore Youth Council.
Pinkenburg got a composite score of 1570 on the SAT, with a perfect 800 on the math portion.
“Trust your instincts, have faith in yourselves, and take your time with it,” he said of taking exams.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
