Three Portland Public Schools students have been named as Semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program: Deering High School seniors Ellis Retzer, Alma Wallace and Ellis Wood.

The Deering students are among just 58 Maine seniors that the program named Sept. 10 as Semifinalists in the 2026 contest. They and all the other academically talented Semifinalists nationwide now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

“We congratulate these outstanding students!” said Superintendent Ryan Scallon. “Their achievement is a credit not only to their own diligence but to the teachers and family members who have supported them in their educational journey. The Achievement goal in our Strategic Plan commits us to preparing and empowering our students for college and career — and these students exemplify the high-quality education we offer at our high schools. I wish all three students the best as they continue on in this competitive program.”

The PPS students are among approximately 16,000 Semifinalists nationwide in this 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

More than 1.3 million juniors entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT (PSAT)/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. 

Of the roughly 16,000 Semifinalists, about 95 percent are expected to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. To reach the Finalist stage, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

The approximately 15,000 Semifinalists expected to reach the Finalist level will be notified in February of this designation. About half of these Finalists will go on to win a National Merit Scholarship and become National Merit Scholars. 

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2026. The National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and ending in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 389,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

The Portland Public Schools is Maine’s largest school district, with nearly 6,500 students, and it’s also the most diverse. About one-third of the district’s students come from homes where languages other than English are spoken—a total of 59 languages. Approximately 47 percent of the district’s students are white and 53 percent are students of color. More than half of all PPS students are economically disadvantaged.