The Richardson Independent School District is proud to announce that 18 of its students have been named as prestigious National Merit Semifinalists. Of these 18 students, J.J. Pearce had the most with eight. Richardson and Berkner each had three while Lake Highlands had four.

Richardson High School

• Hannah Elandary
• Richard Ralston
• Wilson Yeh

Richardson Berkner High School

• Christopher Chen
• Annie Chou
• James Lee

Richardson Pearce High School

• Grayson Audette
• Sarah Baxter
• James Bell
• Hanna Davis
• Kathleen Francis
• Andrew Gonzales
• Corinne Ryan
• John San Soucie

Lake Highlands High School

• Nathan Bucki
• Kenton Cozart
• Dallas Crotty
• Austin Curnutt

To become a National Merit Semifinalist, students much be among the highest-scoring test takers in the United States on the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) that they took as juniors in 2011. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represent less than one percent of all U.S. high school seniors.