Thirty Wylie ISD seniors earned National Merit Commended Student honors for the Class of 2027, the district announced Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Twenty-one of the students attend Wylie High School and nine attend Wylie East High School. The recognition is based on scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which students take during their junior year.

The Commended designation is separate from the Semifinalist honor the district celebrated earlier in September, when a record 10 Wylie High seniors were named Semifinalists. Semifinalists scored at or above Texas's cutoff of 219 on the PSAT Selection Index and can compete for scholarship money. Commended Students scored at or above the national floor of 208 but below the state cutoff, according to Compass Education Group. They received Letters of Commendation in September but do not advance in the scholarship competition.

Nationally, about 34,000 students earn Commended status each year out of roughly 50,000 who receive any National Merit recognition, according to the district's announcement.

The honor still carries weight. Some Commended Students may qualify for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses, the district said.

Wylie High School (21 students): Saad Ali, Kai Bunch, Hana Habte, Nameer Hassan, Ella Hathaway, Kayla Ho, Aamina Imran, Maxwell Joy, Ashwin Kommamuri, Phaolo Le, Leo Liang, Edann Mapanao, Aditya Narayanan, Mattanaih Ojo, Elleandra Phan, Siddhant Samar, Tahir Shaik, Austin Sutten, Walter Talbot, Rishen Thakur and Elizabeth Wiles.

Wylie East High School (9 students): Omer Akif, Bryce Crabtrey, Elijah Davis, Max Kim, Jacob Munoz, Rebecca Myer, Sriju Paudel, Theodore Prindle and Aaliya Ruhil.

Combined with the 10 Semifinalists announced Sept. 10, Wylie ISD has 40 seniors recognized by the National Merit program this year.