Greens Farms Academy Student From Darien Named NMS Finalist

WESTPORT, CT — From Greens Farms Academy: Painter, volleyball player, rock-climber, adaptive ski-instructor, and first Greens Farms Academy girl to graduate with a concentration in STEAM, senior Kendall Roche has many achievements to her name. This month she added another: National Merit Scholarship finalist.

Roche was identified by NMS because of her consistently high academic achievement among students in grades 9-12, and because she was a top scorer on the PSAT/NMSQT.

“It’s really great to be able to have some sort of acknowledgement for all the work I put into school,” Roche said. “Not even just test prep, but everything I’m learning at GFA.”

Starting from a pool from about 1.6 million students nationwide, the NMS field is narrowed down in the fall to 50,000 semifinalists (Teddy Gartland ’18 was also named a semifinalist). From that, just 15,000 make it to the finalist stage.

Roche is still deciding where she wants to go to college, but she plans to major in Biology. “Biology doesn’t necessarily include the engineering/technology side [that STEAM has], but it’s definitely the science side, and it’s a lot of the same thinking techniques,” she explained.

The 7,500 winners, chosen from the finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments, have a chance to receive a $2,500 scholarship, as well as a corporate-sponsored or college-sponsored scholarship. Winners are announced throughout the spring and summer.

Greens Farms Academy is a PreK-12 co-ed day school in Westport. GFA engages students as partners in an innovative, inclusive, and globally minded community to prepare them for a life of purpose. For more information, visit www.gfacademy.org.

Photo: Kendall Roche. Photo credit: Greens Farms Academy