North Central Senior Accepted to Every Ivy League School

Stefan Stoykov, who scored a perfect 2400 on his SAT, has an inspirational story to tell about his journey from Bulgaria to the Nora community in Indianapolis.

While Stefan is clearly exceptional, his is also a story of how Washington Township schools help students from all backgrounds succeed. Nora Elementary, where Stefan first attended at age 8 not knowing any English, is known for its diverse international student population. Nearly 50% of Nora Elementary students were English language learners in 2014.

On his first day of school in the second grade at Nora Elementary, Stefan Stoykov sat in the corner of the classroom, feeling scared as he watched other students walk into the room. When they came up and spoke to him, he tried to make some sense of what they were saying. But he didn’t understand a word of English, so all he could do was bob his head.

Ten years later, Stoykov is graduating as the valedictorian of North Central High School, with a perfect SAT score that helped him win acceptances to all eight Ivy League schools — plus every one of the 10 other colleges to which he applied.

Stoykov’s long list of accomplishments includes:

Valedictorian (class of 802 students), perfect score on the SAT (2400), $2500 National Merit Scholarship, National AP Scholar, member of Student Council, Spirit Week Chair (for 3500 students), National Honor Society, Tutoring Chair, 3 of the Ivy League acceptances include full ride scholarship, and Academic Quiz Bowl.

“North Central High School and the IB (International Baccalaureate Diploma Program) have provided me the academic excellence required to achieve learning at a higher level,” he said.

Read more about Stefan’s personal journey in the IndyStar.