The Gainesville and Hall County school systems saw SAT scores decline this year across the board, except for one steady score in writing for Gainesville.

The systems had seen a slight uptick last year, but even then the scores fell below the state and national averages.

The mean score in Hall for reading is 476, down from 480; for Gainesville it’s 457, down from 462. In math, Hall’s mean score is 473, down from 476; Gainesville is 450, down from 459. In writing, the mean score in Hall is 455, down from 457; for Gainesville it remained steady at 446.

View the school systems’ scores compared to other systems in the area as well as national and Georgia scores.

North Hall High School, however, beat the state and national averages.

“We are excited to see our students performing so well, happy for the doors and opportunities opened by their performance, and thankful for all the hard work of parents, teachers and students to get those scores that high,” said North Hall Principal Jamey Moore.

The school outperformed its neighbors last year as well. It’s average scores are almost exactly the same as last year’s in every subject.

Moore said success on the SAT and ACT is a priority at North Hall.

“We track them on our balanced scorecard and have goals in our school improvement plan that are directly focused on improving SAT and ACT scores,” he said. “We saw gains in all of our subject areas for ACT, as well, this year.”

View a comparison of the Hall schools’ scores.

Representatives from Hall County and Gainesville’s central offices were not available to comment on the scores Thursday.

Chestatee High School senior Amber Brock said she felt the SAT was easier than she expected, but she and most of her friends felt more comfortable taking the ACT.

“More people prefer the ACT to the SAT, I think,” Brock said. “I have taken both, and I preferred the SAT. I think the ACT is what you’re supposed to have learned, and the SAT is more something you can figure out. I prefer to be able to figure it out as I take it, but it depends on what kind of test-taker you are.”

Statewide, Georgia SAT scores improved this year but still fell short of national averages.

Almost 77 percent of the 2015 class in Georgia took the test.

Mean scores in reading are up to 490 from 488, compared to 495 nationally; writing is up to 475 from 472, compared to 484 nationally; and math remained steady at 485, compared to 511 nationally.