Rosary High School students recognized by National Merit Scholarship Program

Submitted by Rosary High School

Rosary High School senior Anna Ward has been named a semifinalist in the 59th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Four students — Tess Fitzsimmons, Rebecca Fritz, Tess Joosse and Lauren Murray — have been named commended students in the program.

Ward, the daughter of Edward and Becky Ward, of Batavia, is among 16,000 semifinalists from 1.5 million students in more than 22,000 high schools. The semifinalists earned the highest scores on the 2012 Preliminary SATs, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The semifinalists remain in the running for about 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth about $35 million. Finalists will be announced in February, and the National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in the spring and summer.

The commended students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the competition. Tess Fitzsimmons is the daughter of Robert and Sheila Fitzsimmons, of Geneva; Rebecca Fritz is the daughter of Paul and Linda Fritz, of Geneva; Tess Joosse is the daughter of Brian and Gwen Joosse, of Batavia, and Lauren Murray is the daughter of Jay and Nancy Murray, of St. Charles.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program to honor the nation’s scholastic champions and to encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.

Rosary High School is a Catholic, college-prep high school for young women located at 901 N. Edgelawn Drive, in Aurora, and sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Ill. For more information about Rosary High School, visit www.rosaryhs.com.