By Bethany Hofstetter

Published: Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 9:00 p.m.
Updated: Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Roman Solomond has made history.

Solomond, 18, a senior at Aquinas Academy in Hampton, is the first student in the school's history to achieve a perfect score on the math and reading portion of the SAT test.

“I've done well in school, but going into the SAT, I didn't think ‘I'm going to get a perfect,'” Solomond said. “It was still a surprise to see I had gotten a perfect.”

In his junior year, Solomond, of McCandless, spent time preparing for the SATs by completing practice tests in critical reading because he said he is “more inclined” mathematically.

In his first attempt at the test, he earned a perfect score on the critical reading portion of the SAT test; however, he wanted to do better.

“The second time around, I was really trying to get the perfect math score,” Solomond said.

Solomond signed up for an SAT preparation course through the school and focused more of his practice on the math portion.

Solomond's extra practice paid off, and he now boasts a perfect score and ranks in the top 1 percent of all test-takers nationwide.

Leslie Mitros, head of school at Aquinas Academy, has taught Solomond math for several years. She said she is not surprised by his academic success but is very proud of him.

“Most notable is Roman's ability to think outside the box and find novel ways to solve a problem,” Mitros said, adding that she believes that contributed to his ability to earn a perfect score on the SATs. “We were thrilled to see that result for Roman.”

Outside of the classroom, Solomond is on Aquinas Academy's soccer and lacrosse teams and is a member of the science club, which recently competed in the National Science Bowl tournament. He volunteers at his church, St. Alexis Catholic Church, during its summer Bible camp and Lenten fish frys.

Solomond also is involved in an informal robotics club with fellow Aquinas Academy student Matthew So, who earned a perfect ACT test score last year.

Solomond has dreams of attending Princeton University in the fall if he is accepted later this month.

However, he also was accepted into and has the option of attending Dayton University or the University of Pittsburgh Honors College. He plans to study engineering.

Bethany Hofstetter is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-772-6364 or bhofstetter@tribweb.com.

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