Penn High School boasts 15 National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists

Penn High School Principal Rachel Fry announced that 15 members of the Class of 2027 have been named Semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program, earning recognition among the nation’s highest-achieving high school students.

Penn’s National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists are:

• Sonya Cheng

• Danielle Ciliberti

• Rayna Doland

• Michael Holmes

• Trey Johnson

• Leena Khan

• Lee Lehtomaki

• Alexis Luebke

• Riley Miles

• Benedict Putman

• Ethan Schafer

• Anthony Scott

• Leah Wagner

• Calvin Warzon

• Alice Zhang

The 15 Penn seniors are among more than 16,000 students nationwide selected as Semifinalists in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

“Congratulations to our 15 Class of 2027 National Merit Semifinalists!” Fry said. “This incredible achievement places these students among the brightest young minds in the country and stands as a proud moment for our entire Penn community.

“Academic excellence of this caliber is built over time; it reflects years of student dedication paired with the effort of our educators from elementary through high school. We celebrate our semifinalists, and remain deeply proud of what this says about the high standard of learning at Penn.”

More than 1.2 million juniors from approximately 20,000 high schools entered the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as the initial screening for program entrants.

Semifinalists now have the opportunity to advance to Finalist status and compete for approximately 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $24 million. More than 15,000 of this year’s Semifinalists are expected to advance to the Finalist level, with those students scheduled to be notified in February.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be awarded in the spring of 2027: National Merit $2,500 Scholarships, corporate-sponsored scholarships and college-sponsored scholarships. Scholarship winners will be announced nationally beginning in April and continuing through July 2027.