With 37, Dougherty Valley High and with 68, San Ramon Valley Unified School District lead county; see list of students; winners be announced April-July 2027
By Contra Costa County Office of Education
PLEASANT HILL, Calif.— Some 103 high school seniors in Contra Costa County have been named Semifinalists in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program, joining more than 16,000 students nationwide recognized for their academic achievement.
The students represent 18 high schools, and one homeschool across Contra Costa County, reflecting the strength of the county’s educational programs and the dedication of students, educators, and families. Among the schools represented, Dougherty Valley High School in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District led the county with 37 Semifinalists. As previously reported, the San Ramon Valley Unified School District boasts 68 Semifinalist among its students.
“Earning the status of a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist places these students among the highest-achieving scholars in the nation,” Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey said. “These students have distinguished themselves through their dedication to learning and commitment to excellence. I am equally proud of the educators and school communities that have helped foster the conditions for this level of success. The recognition reflects the academic foundation and support systems found across schools throughout our county.”
Schools with National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists include:
- Dougherty Valley High School (37)
- California High School (16)
- Monte Vista High School (14)
- Middle College High School (1)
- Campolindo High School (7)
- Miramonte High School (5)
- Acalanes High School (4)
- Northgate High School (4)
- Bentley School (2)
- College Park High School (2)
- De La Salle High School (2)
- Los Lomas High School (2)
- Athenian School (1)
- Berean Christian High School (1)
- Clayton Valley Charter High School (1)
- El Cerrito High School (1)
- Hercules High School (1)
- Middle College High School (1)
- San Ramon Valley High School (1)
- Homeschool/Online (1)
Semifinalists now advance in the competition for approximately 6,700 National Merit Scholarships, collectively valued at nearly $24 million, which will be awarded in spring 2027. To advance to Finalist standing, students must fulfill additional academic and program requirements. According to the National Merit Scholarship Program, Finalists are selected based on their academic record, extracurricular accomplishments, leadership, and potential for success in college.
Historically, about 95 percent of Semifinalists advance to Finalist status, and approximately half of those students earn the distinction of National Merit Scholar.
More than 1.2 million high school juniors from approximately 20,000 schools across the nation entered the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). Semifinalists represent the highest-scoring participants in each state, making the honor one of the nation’s most recognized academic distinctions for high school students.
National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced between April and July 2027 and will join a community of more than 395,000 scholars who have received National Merit honors since the program began.
For more information on the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit www.nationalmerit.org.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP SEMIFINALISTS
ACALANES HIGH SCHOOL – 4
Krick, Trevor
Penn, Carissa
Perry, Felix
Werner, Henry
ATHENIAN SCHOOL – 1
Shiu, Jaden
BENTLEY SCHOOL – 2
Marietta, Jude
Markovich, Felix
BEREAN CHRISTIAN – 1
Cortez, Caleb
CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL – 16
Baugh, Matthew E.
Bhate, Aditya
Bidhurakanthu, Varun
Chauhan, Shaurya
Eraniyan, Keerthi
Hovarth, Tyler
Khoo, Naomi G.
Kralin, Platon
Liu, Avery J.
Nagandia, Sahana R.
Pacheco, Rizal Arturo M.
Ramesh, Harshit
Rana, Abhiveer S.
Singh, Aashvi
Wang, Maxwell L.
Zhao, Vivian G.
CAMPOLINDO HIGH SCHOOL – 7
Bronson, Zayden
Harrison, Brian
Jaffari, Jade
Kirchner, Andrew
Klisura, Anton
Marchetti, Matteo
Rosenblat, Talia
CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL – 1
Channaveer, Anvi
COLLEGE PARK HIGH SCHOOL – 2
Green, Benjamin
Greninger, Oren
DE LA SALLE HIGH SCHOOL – 2
Huang, Luke
Nguyen, Jacob
DOUGHERTY VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL – 37
Ajith, Taran
Asopa, Abhay
Borah, Akanksh
Buenaventura, Tyler Y.
Buragohain, Aiden
Chawda, Toshit
Chen, Cory S.
Chen, Iris S.
Cheng, Zachary S.
Dammanagari, Avaneesh R.
Das, Etash R.
Davuluri, Akhilesh
Goel, Aadi
Goyal, Advita
Gundluru, Nihal
Han, Terrance W.
Jiang, Aiden S.
Joshi, Jayden C.
Kabade, Yash P.
Kattady, Benjamin J.
Krishnan, Nupur
Malani, Girik
Nimmagadda, Sruthi
Patel, Ayaan K.
Patil, Kaashvi V.
Philar, Reva A.
Sabbineni, Shree
Semwal, Aryav
Senji, Aaditya D.
Shao, Yingkai
Suresh, Iniya S.
Tenneti, Anika
Thella, Neil
Wang, Meiyun
Wu, Daniel
Wu, Enzo
Yashvant, Aditi M.
EL CERRITO HIGH SCHOOL –1
Takano, James M.
HERITAGE HIGH SCHOOL – 2
Aaron, James
Jin, Caroline
HERCULES HIGH SCHOOL – 1
Yue, Jordan T.
HOMESCHOOL – 1
Nguyen, Anastasia
LAS LOMAS HIGH SCHOOL – 2
Schaible, Coltrane
Steinberg, Nyana
MIDDLE COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL – 1
Stemmle, Maxwell
MIRAMONTE HIGH SCHOOL – 5
Chan, Cailyn
Colburn, Andrew
Gaarder-Wang, Rory
Maiti, Yuvaan
Zheng, Richy
MONTE VISTA HIGH SCHOOL – 14
Goyal, Rohan
Hughes, Oliver J.
Jiang, James Z.
Kapoor, Anusha
Kotamraju, Rohan
Li, Gianna J.
Mall, Subhang
Medeiros, Tiago K.
Mishra, Tanya
Pant, Esh
Rajnikanth, Sahana
Sarkar, Karisma G.
Venkatesh, Arvind
Yanamandra, Keshav V.
NORTHGATE HIGH SCHOOL – 4
Dixit, Sahara
Hermansyah, Rayyan
Mitchell, Russell
Zhang, Derek
SAN RAMON VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL – 1
Chang, Briar T.
About Contra Costa County Office of Education
One of 58 counties in California, Contra Costa County has the 11th largest public-school student population in the state (approximately 169,225 students). Officially established in 1932, CCCOE has a long history of providing direct services to some of the county’s most vulnerable students, including young people who are incarcerated, homeless, or in foster care, as well as students who have severe physical or emotional challenges.
CCCOE also provides support services to schools and school districts in Contra Costa County; services that can be handled most effectively and economically on a regional basis rather than by each of the county’s 286 schools or 18 school districts. These services range from budget approval and fiscal support to technology infrastructure, communication support, and high-level professional development opportunities for educators. CCCOE maintains a website at www.cocoschools.org.
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