Bragging rights for brainy set

Based on the most recent SAT scores, at least, they’re in Westwood, Sharon, and Hingham, according to the College Board, which administers the standardized reasoning test used by most college admissions offices.

Westwood’s class of 2009 narrowly edged Sharon’s seniors for top honors, 1,760 to 1,759, based on the average combined scores in critical reading, math, and writing, with Hingham at 1,714. The top score on each category test is 800, for a combined maximum of 2,400. The tests were taken by students who graduated this spring, and the results were released last week by the nonprofit association.

Completing an academic triple crown of sorts, Westwood, Sharon, and Hingham also finished in the top three locally in average scores on the individual tests. Westwood seniors were tops in reading (580) and math (601), while Sharon’s were best in writing (588).

Westwood High principal Emily Parks attributed the school’s high scores to a strong curriculum, and also to changes the district made in 2006, after officials noticed MCAS scores were climbing but SAT scores had plateaued.

In an effort to improve scores, Westwood formed a “business-school’’ partnership with Chyten Educational Serv ices, a company that offers private courses on taking the SAT, and whose founder, Neil Chyten, lives in town. The school endorses the program, sending material about the company home with students, and in return students receive a discount if they enroll.

While it’s still too early to see a definite trend, scores seem to be climbing, Parks said. This year’s combined average score was up 43 points from 2007.

Chyten, whose daughter graduated from Westwood High in 2008, said his company sets high standards for tutors, who must have a master’s degree and teaching experience.

Among schools statewide, Westwood finished 19th; Sharon, 20th; and Hingham, 30th.

“We have typically been a high-end school system and we turn out high-end students, and we’re proud of it,’’ said Sharon’s superintendent, Barbara Dunham. She credited the strong showing by Sharon’s students to a base of parents who are deeply involved in the school system, and good teachers. Strong school systems need both, she said. Many students also probably take college prep courses outside of school. Sharon topped area schools in the SAT last year.

Rounding out the top 10 among local high schools are Cohasset, Mansfield, Duxbury, Norwell, Scituate, Foxborough, and Foxborough Regional Charter.

“We believe a strong curriculum speaks for itself, and we’ve been successful with that kind of thinking for a long time,’’ said Superintendent Dorothy Galo in Hingham, where more than 90 percent of the high school’s graduates continue their education. “Our kids do achieve well, and we’re in a community where parents value an education.’’

In Norwell, Superintendent Donald Beaudette said the high school does nothing special to prepare students for the SAT, other than to put a “real emphasis on academics, and high expectations.’’

Denise Walsh, superintendent in Cohasset, credited the high school’s good results to a number of factors, including its block scheduling system that allows more intensive courses.

Statewide, the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science, a school with 100 students in grades 11 and 12 that is affiliated with Worcester Polytechnic Institute, scored highest in the SAT. The 40 students in this spring’s graduating class who took the SAT scored an average of 2,046, and also had the top averages in all three individual tests. The next four highest average scores statewide were registered by students at Lexington, Newton South, Acton-Boxborough Regional, and Boston Latin.

On the other end of the score chart, among high schools with at least 50 test-takers, Madison Park and Jeremiah E. Burke, both in Boston, saw average scores of 1,037 and 1,045, respectively.

Nationally, the Bay State’s students finished near the top, after making slight gains on the reading and math tests, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Massachusetts ranked first in math, second behind New Hampshire in reading, and second behind Connecticut in writing among states where at least 60 percent of the students took the test, according to department officials.

Overall, the state’s average results increased by 1 point in reading and 2 points in math, but fell 1 point in writing from a year ago.

According to the state education agency, 72 percent of public high school students in this year’s graduating class took the test, the third-highest participation rate in the country behind Maine and New York.

Matt Carroll can be reached at mcarroll@globe.com.