News & Events

Congratulations to Norfolk Academy seniors Aarush Desai, David Martin, Adi Thapa, and Yaoyao Wang, who have been recognized as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program! 

Less than 1% of high school seniors from across the country earn this honor. Students gained consideration through their performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

In addition to their academic successes, these NA seniors perform in a variety of activities.

Aarush is a Global Health Fellow who in the spring won the Yale Book Award, given to a junior who shows outstanding personal character and intellectual promise.

David competes on NA's varsity sailing and swimming teams. In the spring he won the Princeton Book Award, given to a student who demonstrates exceptional talent, competence, and leadership in both academic and non-academic pursuits, while displaying concern for the opinions of others.

Adi participates in Band and works on Fine Arts Tech Crews. He also served over the summer as a Breakthrough at Norfolk Academy teacher. In the spring he won the Tulane Book Award, given to a junior in recognition of excellence in academics, leadership, and public service. 

Yaoyao is in the Orchestra and over the summer studied at the Governor's School for Math, Science, and Technology. In the spring he won the Bowdoin Book Award for Serving the Common Good, given to a junior who demonstrates strong leadership in community service.

Just 16,000 students from around the country earned this merit honor. More than 1.3 million students entered the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

Finalists will be announced in early 2026. Norfolk Academy has been fortunate to have numerous National Merit Finalists over the years, including two from the Class of 2025.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization, conducts the scholarship program.