Ten FHS Students Commended by National Merit Scholarship Corporation One Named Semifinalist for Merit Scholar Award
Ten students from Franklin High School were named Commended Students by National Merit Scholarship Corporation. From left to right, Arden Meyer, Ridika Gandla, Aodhfionn Downs, Charles Nash, Krithi Rajesh, Emma Anderson, Arsh Tyagi, Jonathan Mabardy and Keshan Kumar. Pranava Ponvinayagan (not pictured) was also honored as a Commended Student.
Franklin, MA - A Franklin High School student was named as a Semifinalist for a National Merit Scholarship by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), while 10 fellow seniors were honored as Commended Students.
Franklin High School senior Gavin Warnakulasooriya was named Semifinalist for a National Merit Scholarship after taking the Preliminary SAT. (Photos Courtesy Franklin Public Schools)
The 10 Franklin High seniors recognized as Commended Students by NMSC as part of its 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program include the following: Arden Meyer, Ridika Gandla, Aodhfionn Downs, Charles Nash, Krithi Rajesh, Emma Anderson, Arsh Tyagi, Jonathan Mabardy, Keshan Kumar and Pranava Ponvinayagan.
They join about 34,000 Commended Students from throughout the country who are now being honored by NMSC for their exceptional academic promise. They were originally identified from a group of 50,000 top finishers in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, also known as the Preliminary SAT, serving as the initial screen of program entrants.
Franklin High School senior Gavin Warnakulasooriya was named as a Semifinalist for a National Merit Scholarship after taking the Preliminary SAT.
NMSC recently named more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program, who each have an opportunity to further demonstrate high academic achievement and leadership in an application for 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million, along with the title of Merit Scholar. (More than 1.3 million juniors took the Preliminary SAT last year, meaning the nationwide pool of semifinalists represents about 1% of U.S. high school seniors.)
Superintendent Lucas Giguere and Principal Maria Weber congratulated Franklin High School’s 10 Commended Students and its National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.
“I am thrilled to see our students acknowledged for their dedication, hard work and achievements,” Principal Weber said in congratulating the students. “Their accomplishments in the classroom are inspiring and demonstrate their outstanding potential.”
“We are immensely proud of our Franklin High School seniors who earned recognition from NMSC as a Commended Student or National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist,” said Superintendent Giguere. “These academic achievements are a demonstration of the drive, hard work, and talents of our students. We’re grateful that they are all now being celebrated for these accomplishments.”
