The Yorktown Central School District is proud to announce that five Yorktown High School seniors — Charlie Zhong, Benjamin Smith, Ryan Zheng, Zoe Yau, and Saarth Desai — have been named semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program.

This honor places them among the top 1% of U.S. high school seniors, based on their scores on the 2025 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Of the more than 1.2 million juniors who took the exam, only about 16,000 earned this distinction.

These five students now advance in the competition for nearly $24 million in scholarships to be awarded next spring. About 95% of semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, with roughly half earning the title of National Merit Scholar.

Congratulations to Charlie, Benjamin, Ryan, Zoe, and Saarth on this incredible accomplishment.

Please see the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's press release for more information.

Congratulations to our All-State musicians!

Danielle Fruchtman was selected as Soprano 2 in the All-State Mixed Chorus, and Zachary Sunaz was selected as an Alternate for Tenor 1 in the Mixed Chorus. The Yorktown High School juniors earned their spots through standout auditions at the NYSSMA All-State evaluations this past spring.

The 2026 NYSSMA Winter Conference/All-State Festival takes place Dec. 3-6, 2026, in Rochester. Congratulations to Choral Director Ms. Stock and the entire Music Department on another incredible accomplishment.

The Yorktown High School Science Research Department has concluded a banner year, with students earning top honors at regional, state, national, and international competitions.

From the Regeneron Science Talent Search to the International Science and Engineering Fair to the Genius Olympiad, YHS students represented Yorktown among some of the top young scientists, engineers, and researchers in the country and world.

Among the year’s highlights, senior Jashvi Desai was named a Top 40 finalist in the nationwide Regeneron Science Talent Search after first being selected as a Top 300 Scholar alongside classmates Willa Olson and Siddharth Nair. Sophomore Sophie Zhong and junior Saarth Desai both placed fourth in their respective categories at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, where senior Aryan Shenoy also competed as a finalist.

YHS students continued their success into June. At the Genius Olympiad International Competition in Rochester, Dhayashree Ravi earned a silver medal in science, while Alex Altamuro and Saarth Desai earned bronze medals. Sophie Zhong and Abhi Ravindranath received honorable mention recognition. Dhayashree and Alex were also named finalists at the New York State Science Congress in Syracuse.

The accomplishments were part of a strong year across the entire Science Research Program, with students earning first-, second-, and third-place category awards, special research honors, finalist distinctions, and international recognition.

A full list of this year’s Science Research honors is included here.