National Merit and College Board Recognitions

SSFS is thrilled to celebrate our Upper School seniors who have been recognized for their strong academic performance this fall!

Sandy Spring Friends School Celebrates Students Awarded with Academic Honors from College Board National Recognition Programs

COLLEGE BOARD NATIONAL RECOGNITION PROGRAM AWARDS
This year, three SSFS seniors have received the National African American Recognition Award: Taye Bradford, Nayima Fangou, and Ella Gilbert. In addition, Taddy Vargas won the National Hispanic Recognition Award. These academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs celebrate students' hard work in high school and showcase their strong academic performance. 

The criteria for eligible students include:

• GPA of 3.5 or higher;
• PSAT/NMSQT assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program or earned a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP Exams in 10th and 11th grade;
• Identify as African American/Black, Hispanic American/Latino, or Indigenous/Native.

Congratulations, Nayima, Ella, Taye, and Taddy!

COMMENDED STUDENTS IN THE 2024 NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Sandy Spring Friends School is pleased to announce that Abigail Bobrow, Taye Bradford, Timo Evans, Clara Frank, Greta Garretson-Taylor, Julia May, and Ayla Saksena have been named Commended Students in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. Each student received a Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2024 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2024 competition by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

“Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”

NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALIST IN THE 2024 NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Sandy Spring Friends School is proud to announce Jamie Albertine as a semifinalist in The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) 2024 competition.186 Montgomery County students, in both public and independent schools, were named National Merit semifinalists. They will now go on to compete nationally for scholarships awarded in the spring.

Semifinalists were selected from among high school juniors who were top scorers on the 2022 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. More than 16,000 semifinalists across the nation will be considered for advancement to the finalist stage of the competition.

Finalists will be considered for $2,500 National Merit scholarships, plus additional corporate-sponsored and college/university-sponsored scholarships that will be announced later in the school year.