American Heritage Schools recently announced that 16 students from the Class of 2025 — four from the Palm Beach campus and 12 from the Broward campus — have been named semifinalists for the U.S. Presidential Scholars program. The program is the nation’s most prestigious recognition for distinguished graduating high school seniors.
The two campuses of American Heritage Schools account for 11 percent of all Presidential Scholar candidates in Florida. The Broward campus is the No. 1 school in Florida with the highest number of Presidential Scholar candidates. The Palm Beach Campus is the No. 1 school in Palm Beach County and the No. 3 school in Florida.
“Being named a Presidential Scholar candidate is an extraordinary honor that reflects the dedication, intellect and perseverance of our students,” said Dr. Doug Laurie, president of American Heritage Schools. “We are incredibly proud of these outstanding young leaders whose commitment to excellence and service sets them apart on a national stage.”
The United States Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 to recognize and honor some of the nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Each year, approximately 500 students from across the country are named semifinalists and forwarded for further review. In April, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars will select 161 outstanding students to receive the U.S. Presidential Scholar Medallion, the highest scholastic honor awarded by the U.S. government.
The students from American Heritage who have been named 2025 U.S. Presidential Scholar candidates are: Julius Kulla, Ryan Weissblum, Jeffrey Yu and Catherine Zhao from the Palm Beach campus, and Rajam Arunprakash, Lila Cohen, Sebastian Estrada, Jack Finneran, Junsouh Hong, Timothy Kong, Chunyu Li, Rolando Perez, Samuil Petrov, Yusuf Sheikh, Roshini Shivakumar and Emily Wang from the Broward campus. For more information, visit www.ahschool.com/presidential-scholars.
