On Thursday, October 3, parents and students were welcomed into the Terry center by administration and faculty. It was a morning of excitement and celebration, both the school and families were extremely proud of the hard work of these Jesuit students. Notably, 947 AP exams were administered at the school this year (2024); this year also saw the highest score average in the past five years. In addition, this ceremony celebrated College Board Recognition Programs and National Merit Recognition.
“Often these students don’t get much recognition, you don’t see them out on the playing field or in competition but they put a lot of hard work in behind the scenes” -Principal Tom Garrison
National Merit
From the 2023 Preliminary SAT and National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, five Jesuit students achieved the prestigious recognition of National Merit Semifinalists. Historically, Texas has been one of the most difficult states to achieve this honor, the prerequisite score necessary for semifinalist in last year’s administration was a 219. Congratulations to the following students:
Leo Hernandez ’25
Keagan McDuffie ’25
Conor Parro ’25
Ewan Randles ’25
Carter Weiss ’25
“I’m really proud of everyone and the effort that we put into getting recognition for National Merit.” -Keagan McDuffie ’25
In addition to these five semifinalists, nineteen Jesuit students achieved the accolade of National Merit Commended Scholar. This year the cutoff score was a 208 on the NMQST Index. Congratulations to the following students:
Wallace Archie ’25
Max Arumugham ’25
Lachlan Broad ’25
Beau Bureau-Mitchell ’25
Christian Carr ’25
Rishi Danda ’25
Zach Dsouza ’25
Jack Golembeski ‘25
Greg Kimatian ’25
Michael Kovac ’25
Sam Loh ’25
Neel Manne ’25
Kevin Martinez ’25
Levy Mendoza ’25
Winn Moore ’25
Ben Owen ’25
Jackson Powell ’25
Leo Ramirez ’25
Jack Reynolds ’25
“92% of test-takers achieved a 3 or higher, compared to 79% last year; both of these numbers are multitudes higher than the national average.” – Assistant Principal Dr. Todd Gruninger
Also recognized in this ceremony were recipients of College Board and Advanced Placement recognitions. These included AP Scholar awards and recognition programs awarded to members of minority groups who are in the top ten percent of test-takers in the state. The recognition categories awarded were the National African American Recognition Program, National First-Generation Recognition Program, National Hispanic Recognition Program, and the National Indigenous Recognition Program. AP Scholar categories include AP Scholar, which is awarded to students who received a 3 or higher on at least 3 AP Exams, AP Scholar with Honor, which is awarded to students who achieved a 3 or higher on at least 4 AP Exams with an average of 3.25 or higher, and AP Scholar with Distinction, which is awarded to students who achieved a 3 or higher on at least 5 AP Exams with an average of 3.5 or higher.
Congratulations to all of our award winners this year for their hard work and commitment to their studies. Each year our average scores have increased, while national averages have gone down, a demonstration of Jesuit’s commitment to challenging and elevating its students. Although we approach this year’s PSAT and we wish all students the best of luck on the test, remember that standardized test scores don’t define you.
Stay tuned to The Roundup for more news and updates on academic recognition!