Jun 09, 2012 11:25 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

An elite group of ten University High School students in Irvine, California all received perfect scores on the ACT test.

Michele Gile, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, says in the exam's 50-year history, no one school has ever had so many students score a "36″ in one year.

"A 36 is a perfect score, which all of these students achieved and really a strong indication of how college and career ready these students are," said ACT Consultant Romi Kim.

Of the 10 students who recorded a perfect score, one was a senior, two were sophomores and the rest were juniors. None of them had taken the standardized test before.

"When I walked out, I thought I did pretty well but I wasn't expecting a perfect score so when I got it, I was pretty excited. I just barely missed it on the SAT so this was really nice to make up for it," said Jessica Zou, who will be attending Princeton in the fall.

The school in Irvine is known to have a handful of perfect scores on the ACT and SAT annually, a testament to the community's emphasis on education and the students' desire to push themselves academically.

The school will honor its 10 ace test takers Friday at the school's end-of-year awards ceremony.

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