This fall's incoming Clark School freshmen are exceeding expectations for academic excellence and diversity even before they arrive on campus.

Here is a snapshot of the Class of 2009:

• The group is 8 percent larger than the Class of 2008, totaling 581 new students, including increased numbers of women and minorities.
• 50 students have SAT scores higher than 1500, a 56 percent improvement over last year.
• 50 percent of the class scored between 1270 and 1420 on the SAT, a significant twenty-point increase from last year.
• Forty-two new students are joining the Inventis program, an invitation-only, four-year program for the Clark School's top students. 50 percent of these students scored between 1430 and 1500 on the SAT.