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.

Pictured: front row, left to right—Head of Upper School Susan Zalac, Norah Iezzi, Read Johnson,

Nine Rutledge, Rachel Wicker, Vibha Gowda, Kyra Barber, Leo Gabara, Alex Tally; back row—

Prince-Howard Currie, Lucy Hollingsworth, Maya Davis, Bailey McCurdy, Avery Roark, Connor

Schoenfeld, Joshua Xie, Kartik Menke.

Athens Academy is an independent, co-educational school for students in K3 through 12th grade,

located on a beautiful 152-acre campus in Northeast Georgia. Now in its 57th year, Athens Academy

pursues its mission of “excellence with honor” through academics, athletics, fine arts, and service

and leadership. Ranked the #1 private school in Athens, #9 college prep school in the state of

Georgia, and #1 private school in Northeast Georgia (Niche.com).

For more information, please contact Kelley Cuneo, communications director, at

[email protected] or 706-433-2410.