Spring Branch ISD (SBISD) is proud to announce that 28 outstanding students from Memorial High School (MHS), Stratford High School (SHS), and Spring Branch Academic Institute (SBAI) have been named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists in the 2025–2026 competition.
This recognition places these students among the top academically talented high school seniors in the nation. More than 1.3 million juniors across the country entered the competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in October 2024.
Raising the Bar in Texas
Texas is consistently one of the most competitive states in the country for National Merit honors. For the 2025–2026 cycle, the cutoff score in Texas rose to 222, up from 219 for the past two years. This means students needed a near-perfect selection index score of 222 out of 228, roughly equivalent to a 1500+ on the SAT, to advance to semifinalist status.
SBISD’s National Merit Semifinalists
These students represent the academic excellence, perseverance, and talent found across SBISD:
Memorial High School
Caroline R. Bonner
Lucas A. Bonnin
Thomas K. Guilanshah
John D. Guzman
Gray E. Hevle
Shuji Hosokawa
Daniel C. Kim
David S. Lee
Joanna S. Loo
William J. Marrs
Samuel D. Nguyen
Chloe Z. Shao
Conrad R. Slot
Alexander X. Tait
Carson W. Ting
Guanhua Wu
Michelle J. Yue
Allison Y. Zhu
Spring Branch Academic Institute
Ronin Chakrabarti
Alexander Z. Cheng
Benjamin Y. Guo
Jaeho Lee
Stephanie Shen
Bryan Z. Ung
Aaron Xiong
Stratford High School
Quinn A. Azizi-Yarand
Matthew B. Le
Jacqueline A. McFaul
What Comes Next
These semifinalists now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,000 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million, which will be awarded in the spring of 2026.
“Achieving semifinalist status is an incredible accomplishment, particularly in a state as competitive as Texas,” said SBISD Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Blaine. “We are deeply proud of these students, their families, and the educators who have supported their academic journeys.”