By Ken Jackson
Staff Writer

Robin Schiro loves tennis, robotics, and video games.

A bright young man, he envisioned one day attending MIT or Cal Tech, but he feared that the opportunity of attending a school at that echelon was akin to “winning the lottery.”

Thanks to a test score — one for the record books in Osceola County — the Kissimmee teenager and rising senior at Gateway High School may have punched his winning ticket.

Schiro, 17, took the SAT in May and recently received his scores. He tallied a 1590 on the portion that assesses math and language skills, and a 780 on the written portion for a score of 2370 out of a possible 2400.

After some research by the Osceola County School District’s secondary education department, it was determined that Schiro’s score is the highest recorded in the county since the district began reporting scores, besting the next highest reported combined score of 2270.

No Osceola district student has ever earned a perfect 1600 math and verbal combined score.

He said the practice tests he took prior to taking the SAT near the end of his junior year at GHS were a big help.

“I felt confident when I finished the test, but I had no idea I’d get that high of a score,” Schiro said. “I was shooting for 1500 on the math and verbal and something in the 2200s overall.”

He achieved a perfect score on the verbal section, catching him by surprise.

“I still have no idea how I did that,” he said. “It seemed easier than the practice tests I’d taken, and I thought I did very well on the math section. But it still seems a little unreal.”

The day the results became available online, Schiro was up at 5:30 a.m. to check them. When he saw the scores, his celebration woke up his parents, Nimi and George, the latter a former Osceola County Superintendent Citizens Search Committee member, who said hearing noise coming from the house at that hour concerned him.

“He has such a quiet, laid-back personality, so at first I wasn’t sure what it was,” George Schiro said. “When he told us, it was a little bit surprising. I’m sure someone will get a perfect score around here, but it’s exciting to know his is the highest around for now.”

Robin Schiro said the news didn’t hit Gateway High until a group of friends were discussing their scores and asked him about his.

“There were about five people around. I told them what I got; they told everybody else,” he said. “Not long after that I had teachers asking me about it.”

Robert Russell, the program coordinator of the International Baccalaureate program at Gateway High, said that based on Schiro’s work ethic and the way he attacks the program’s stringent standards, the young man’s SAT score was “not unexpected.

“The IB program itself is the district’s toughest academic program,” he said. “It speaks well to thrive in it like he has. He’s shown the willingness to put in work, and he’s a grounded, compassionate, sociable young man. The world is his oyster.”

Robin Schiro said the now legendary test score opens more doors to him in the future.

“Before the test I had a list of schools I thought it would be very difficult to get into, and another list of some other good schools that might be more realistic, like University of Chicago,” he said. “Now they all seem realistic.”

In his spare time, Schiro has served as president of Gateway’s Spanish National Honor Society chapter, is a member of the 4H “Exploding Bacon” robotics team and plays tennis and video games (“Guild Wars” is a current favorite) with his friends. A Harmony resident, he said he’d be working with Lego Robotics at Harmony Community School this fall, teaching children ages 9-14 about the science and engineering of robotics.

Aside from that, Schiro said he’d be spending his senior year working toward reaching the top of his graduating class of around 450 students; he’s currently third.

“It’s a good goal for me, and it’s possible that I can reach it,” he said.