In addition to the eight Piedmont High School students named National Merit Semifinalists, Piedmont High School recognized the following Commended Scholars for scoring in the top 3% of PSAT test takers their junior year:
Bruno Banuelos
Luisa Cole
Jacob Hanke
Ayaan Jajodia
Kasper Jansson
Vaughn Khouri
Simon March-Cunningham
Dean Olliphant
Nathaniel Scher
Elise Schleuning
Jacob Shusteff
Sophena Tuli
Logan Watral
Elsebet Willats
Last year 1.49 million juniors took the PSAT according to the Compass Education Group. The National Merit Scholarship Program recognizes approximately 50,000 students based on the results of those scores. Students at or above their state’s Semifinalist Selection Index cutoff are among the 17,000 National Merit Semifinalists and move to the next step in the program. Students missing the Semifinalist level but still scoring at high levels are named Commended Students.