The Dunham School is pleased to announce that seniors Parker Harris and Luke Russell have been named as Semifinalists in the 64th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.  In addition, seniors Kathryn Dunphy, Eric Ponder and Anushka Singh have been named National Merit Commended Students.

“We are so proud of these five academically talented students who have earned National Merit recognition this year,” said Director of Upper School Amanda McIlwain. “Each of these students is an accomplished scholar; they also are talented musicians, highly competitive athletes, skilled actors, and leaders on our campus.  These outstanding seniors embody the pursuit of excellence in all things which we value greatly at Dunham. “

As two of the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program, Parker and Luke have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $31 million that will be offered in Spring 2019.

High school students enter the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT-NMSQT) in the fall of their junior year. Of the 1.6 million high school students who took the the PSAT in October 2017, approximately 50,000 (approximately 3.3%) qualify as National Merit Commended Students or Scholar Semifinalists. The nationwide pool of 16,000 Semifinalists represents less than 1 percent of current U.S. high school seniors.