Athens Academy is pleased to announce that sixteen members of the Class of 2025 have been
recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation: twelve students as Semifinalists and
four as Commended Students. Of the private schools in the state of Georgia, Athens Academy has
the second highest number of Semifinalists, just behind the The Westminster Schools of Atlanta.
Locally, although Athens Academy’s Class of 2025 comprises approximately 5% of the seniors in
Clarke and Oconee County schools, these twelve students comprise almost half (48%) of the total
Semifinalists across both counties. Totals for each local school include Athens Academy (12),
Clarke Central High School (4), Oconee County High School (3), North Oconee High School (3),
Cedar Shoals High School (2), and Prince Avenue Christian School (1), for a total of 25
Semifinalists. No other school in these counties had students scoring at the highest level for
National Merit recognition.

Congratulations to Prince-Howard Currie, Maya Davis, Leo Gabara, Lucy Hollingsworth, Norah
Iezzi, Read Johnson, Bailey McCurdy, Kartik Menke, Avery Roark, Connor Schoenfeld, Alex Tally,
and Joshua Xie, who have been named Semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Program. As
Semifinalists, these twelve students represent the top 1-2% of the highest scoring seniors across
the country. They will continue in the competition for National Merit scholarships, which will be
announced in the spring.

In addition, four seniors have been recognized as National Merit Commended Students,
representing the top 3-4% of the highest scorers across the country. Congratulations to Kyra
Barber, Vibha Gowda, Nina Rutledge, and Rachel Wicker.

Of the approximately 750 public and private high schools in the state of Georgia, Athens Academy
is ranked twelfth for the highest number of National Merit Semifinalists this year.
The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and
scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking
the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). Of the 1.5 million
entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores (critical reading +
mathematics + writing skills scores) qualify for recognition in the National Merit® Scholarship
Program.

Congratulations to all of these very talented seniors! We are proud of our students and all the
others being recognized across our region.