Throughout the years, students in the district have excelled academically. Students who have achieved high academic accolades are honored by the National Merit Scholarship program. National Merit Scholarship Corporation holds an academic competition for students to recognize and even offer scholarships through this corporation. To enter the program, high school students must take the PSAT/ NMSQT. Students with the highest PSAT/NMSQT scores automatically qualify for recognition. There are four levels of recognition including, commended, semifinalist, finalist, and scholar.
Commended students receive a Letter of Commendation, recognizing their outstanding academic performance. These students, however, do not go on to the next level of competition. Commended students may be offered various special scholarships sponsored by businesses and corporations.
A semifinalist represents his or her state by holding the highest scores in his or her respective state. To advance to the finalist level, all semifinalists must hold high academic standards and various other requirements. The only way to be recognized for a National Merit Scholarship is to advance to the finalist level.
Over 15,000 semifinalists are selected to advance to the finalist level. Finalists are chosen based on their accomplishments, abilities, and skills. All National Merit Scholarship selectors review the student's academic record, school's grading system and curriculum, school officials' recommendations, two sets of test scores, student activities, and leadership and the student's essay.
Finally, over 8,000 finalists are selected to receive National Merit Scholarships.Other scholarships available are the corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships and college-sponsored Merit Scholarships.
