MADISON – The 2024 National Merit Finalists in Madison have placed both campuses in the top five for Alabama high schools.

Madison City Schools again has an outstanding number of finalists, with 15 National Merit Finalists from Bob Jones High School and 13 National Merit Finalists from James Clemens High School.

The total of 28 finalists for the district places MCS in the top tier for the state.

MCS Superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols said he is proud of these students for their hard work and for the teachers that prepared them from the earliest grades on up.

Nichols credited the strong foundation of MCS, set by past and present leadership that continues through the unwavering support of parents, community leaders, Madison Board of Education members, principals, administrators and dedicated teachers and staff in MCS elementary, middle and high schools.

National Merit Finalists at Bob Jones are Abram Carlson, Samantha Chan, Andrew Crocker, Rachel Ehrman, Luke Garrison, Elizabeth Haddock, Lucy Halter, Piper Larkin, Francois Le Roux, Madeline McInvale, Elizabeth Newsom, Pranav Satheeshl, Lauren Sheehy, Taylor Turpin and Zoe Widman.

National Merit Finalists at James Clemens are Angela Ai, Shivani Alapati, Carlin Chacko, Bhavya Chalasani, Abhishek Emani, Connie Guo, Grace Hur, Lilliann Markowitz, Aasim Musani, Brock Senel, Neil Sethi, Saahil Shaik and Samuel Townsend.

Sylvia Lambert is Principal at Bob Jones. Dr. Kerry Donaldson is James Clemens’ Principal.

Most of MCS’ National Merit Finalists attended Madison schools, starting in elementary grades forward, which is a credit to the outstanding teachers and staffs in our elementary and middle schools, along with both high schools, MCS Public Relations Manager John Peck said.

“These results once again prove that it does not matter where you live or go to school in Madison . . . every school is one of the nation’s best,” Nichols said.

The nationwide pool of National Merit Finalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. They include the highest scoring students in each state on PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), which they took as juniors. The finalists will compete for 7,500 National Merit scholarships worth approximately $30 million.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation has headquarters in Evanston, Ill. Its mission is to recognize and honor the United States’ academically talented students. For more information, visit nationalmerit.org.