Sixteen Upper School students from the Episcopal School of Dallas have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program for their high academic achievements on the PSAT. This year, approximately 16,000 students from the United States were named semifinalists and contenders for the National Merit Scholarships totaling more than $35 million. The Class of 2014 students qualifying for this honor are: Emily Barnes, Alex Gulis, Anderson Riddick, Kelsey Schmitt, Megan Sims, and Sophie Sisson. Approximately 15,000 National Merit Scholarship Finalists will be announced in February.

Gabby Laurendine ’14 was honored as one of 3,100 “Outstanding Participants” in the National Achievement Scholarship Program. Laurendine scored in the top 3 percent of more than 160,000 black students who requested consideration in the 2014 National Achievement Program based on their PSAT scores.

Two students from ESD were recognized by the College Board’s National Hispanic Recognition Program for exceptional academic achievement. Oscar Benavides and Ines Bustamante, both members of the Class of 2014, were among 3,500 Hispanic and Latino high school students from across the nation to receive this prestigious honor. Candidates for this award are often among the 5,000 highest-scoring Hispanic and Latino students on the PSAT.

 A group of seven ESD seniors was also recognized at the ceremony as “Commended Students” in the 2014 National merit Scholarship Program. These students placed among the top 5 percent of the more than 1.5 million students who entered the National Merit Scholarship pool. These students are: Emily Bassel, Caroline Brennan, Shelby Conine, Catherine Lovitt, Erin McWilliams, Megan Rooney, and Alec Smith.