National Merit semifinalists abound at Clark High School
A public school will be able to say it graduated more high-achieving students than any Nevada school in 2015.
For the second year running, that honor goes to Clark County’s Clark High School, according to the National Merit Scholarship Program competition, which honors the top 1 percent of America’s high school seniors based on their PSAT scores of the previous year.
These students are deemed semifinalists eligible for $33 million in scholarships this spring.
Clark High School, near Valley View Boulevard and Pennwood Avenue, had 14 semifinalists. It reached the same count last year, tying the Davidson Academy of Nevada, a Reno public school for profoundly gifted middle and high school students.
This year, Clark stands alone at the top.
“This isn’t a one-shot accomplishment,” said Jill Pendleton, principal of the school celebrating its 50th year. “It’s become the culture here. It’s neat to see it permeate the building.”
Clark is a traditional high school for neighborhood students within the Clark County School District, with a twist. The school also has three magnet programs — finance; teacher education; and mathematics, science and applied technology — that draw students from across the valley.
The school also offers every science, technology, engineering and math course covered by the College Board, the nonprofit organization that administers the SAT.
Clark can’t keep up with the demand for its magnet programs. This summer, Clark received 1,300 applications for about 200 open seats.
“I had parents calling all summer long asking if any spots had opened,” Pendleton said.
Reno’s Davidson came in second with nine semifinalists, followed by Henderson’s Coronado High School, also part of the Clark County School District, with eight semifinalists.
Up until the class of 2014, the privately operated Meadows School — founded by Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman in 1984 — had the most semifinalists for three straight years. It was in fourth place with seven semifinalists for the class of 2015.
Clark County public and private schools produced 74 National Merit semifinalists, an increase from the 47 semifinalists last year and 58 before that.
Contact Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Follow @TrevonMilliard on Twitter.
