Twelve students from Gilbert Public Schools have been named semifinalists in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program, which recognizes the top 1% of high school seniors nationwide based on academic achievement and performance on standardized tests.

The students represent four district high schools: Campo Verde High School, Gilbert Classical Academy, Gilbert High School and Highland High School. Semifinalists were selected based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

The semifinalists are:

Campo Verde High School

• Ryan P. Donlon
• Matthew C. Duty
• Brendan J. Schaefer
• Sofie Theurer

Gilbert Classical Academy

• Kaiser Chen
• Paul-Matteo D. Cristobal
• Kyle M. Jones
• Shivang Parmar

Gilbert High School

• Alexandra R. Cardine
• Dean C. Smith
• Jonas R. Theriot

Highland High School

• Jacob Black

Students followed a variety of academic paths to reach this milestone. Some pursued rigorous coursework through Honors and Advanced Placement  classes, while others at Gilbert High School are candidates in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, supplementing their studies with AP and fine arts courses.

Additional students combined AP, Dual Enrollment and Career and Technical Education classes.

Beyond academics, semifinalists are active in extracurricular activities including choir, band, tennis and athletic training programs.

Among the group, Campo Verde’s Sofie Theurer earned a perfect score of 36 on the ACT, a distinction achieved by only 0.22% of test takers nationwide.

Several students have begun planning for life after graduation.

One is pursuing a pre-veterinary program at Arizona State University, while others are applying to institutions such as the University of Chicago, Stanford University and Brigham Young University. Two students plan to major in STEM fields, including biomedical engineering and data science.

To advance to the finalist stage, students must submit a detailed application, maintain strong academic performance and achieve SAT or ACT scores that confirm their PSAT/NMSQT results.

Finalists will compete for scholarships totaling nearly $26 million, including National Merit, corporate-sponsored and college-sponsored awards. Winners will be announced in spring and summer 2025.