Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

All four Casady seniors who were named National Merit semifinalists in September have advanced to become finalists.
Congratulations to Jackson Davis, Justin Schneider, Mariam Shakir, and Safra Shakir. The National Merit® Scholarship Program "honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies." As finalists they will be considered for National Merit Scholarships.

The National Merit Scholarship Program began in 1955 as an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®)—a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.6 million juniors in 22,000 schools—and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements. This year, nationally, 15,000 students achieved finalist status based on results from the 2016 test.

Jackson, Justin, Mariam, and Safra have an opportunity to continue even further in the competition, which awards 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $32 million that will be offered later this spring. All winners of Merit Scholarship® awards, who will be known as Merit Scholars, are chosen based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. As stated on the website, a variety of information is available for the "selectors" to evaluate each finalist including academic record, information about the school's curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, the school official's written recommendation, information about the student's activities and leadership, and the finalist's own essay.

In 2017, Casady had six finalists and one National Merit Scholar. Best wishes to our Casady seniors in their next steps in the competition to become scholars.
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Casady School is an independent, co-educational, college preparatory, Episcopal day school serving students in pre-k-12. Educating Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Casady School is a PreK-12, independent, college preparatory Episcopal day school committed to deeper-level learning. Casady School welcomes a student body that reflects the diversity of the world around us and therefore does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nationality, or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletics, and other school-administered programs generally accorded or made available to students at the School.