Upper School students were recognized for academic achievement at this week’s Monday meeting in the Berry Performing Arts Center. Alayne Birnhak, Associate Director of College Counseling, announced the names of students honored as Commended Students and Big Future First-Generation and School Recognition Award winners.
In October 2025, more than 1.2 million juniors across 20,000 high schools in the U.S. entered into the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2025 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). In April 2026, 50,000 of the highest scorers were identified as National Merit Commended Students. W+H students Sharon Kim ’27, Anushka Patchigolla ’27, Jiuyue “Emma” Wang ’27 and Kimberly Zhang ’27 have earned places on that elite list.
The College Board National Recognition Program awards academic honors to hundreds of thousands of deserving students across the country. It recognizes rising 11th and 12th Grade Students who take the PSAT/NMSQT and/or AP Exams by the end of 10th Grade, earn a cumulative GPA of B+ or higher, are in the top 10% of test-takers in their high school, among first-generation college students in their state OR earn a 3+ on two or more AP exams.
W+H is proud to recognize First-Generation honorees Boyu “Dylon” Jiang ’27, Kuljot Sindhar ’27 and Ryan Zhao ’28 and School Recognition awardees Neela Bandla ’27, Aarav Brahmbhatt ’28, Sara Gupta ’28, Veer Kansal ’28, Sharon Kim ’27, Caden Leu ’28, Adit Mehta ’28, Anushka Patchigolla ’27, Yuxiaoxiao “Laylay” Qian ’27, Zeen “Zayn” Shen ’27, Kuljot Sindhar ’27, Jiuyue “Emma” Wang ’27 and Yiwen “Aron” Zhong ’27.