Seniors Andrew Beach and Matthew Gardner became the eighth and ninth Brentwood Christian students in school history to be named as National Merit® Semifinalsts by the National Merit® Scholarship Corporation. Beach and Gardner scored in the top 1 percent nationwide on the PSAT/NMSQT exam they took in the fall of their junior year.

Four other BCS students—Brian Lam, Chris Williams, Stephen Yu, and Carlos Zaragoza—were named as Commended Scholars, because they scored in the top 3 percent of students who took the test. The total number of BCS students to be named as Commended Scholars now stands at 28. Of the 1.5 million students who take the exam annually, only about 50,000 qualify for recognition by the National Merit® Scholarship Program. 

Semifinalists Beach and Gardner will likely be named as National Merit® Finalists next spring after they complete additional steps in the process. To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record
throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. The Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student’s essay and information about the Semifinalist’s participation and leadership in school and community activities.

If Beach and Gardner are named as Finalists, they will be eligible to compete for National Merit® Scholarships. Three types of scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2010. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored scholarships will be provided by corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria. In addition, about 200 colleges and universities are expected to offer Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend their schools.

AUSTIN, TEXAS (November 9, 2009) - With a goal in mind of providing a state of the art environment for the Arts and Sciences, Brentwood Christian School (BCS) will break ground this weekend on a four and a half million dollar expansion project.  At the very heart of this project is the continued goal of the school to provide their students with resources that will help insure their future success.