SUNY-Potsdam recently inducted Alexandra Doniger of Newtown into its Honors Program. Alexandra is a sophomore with a major in literature/writing. She graduated from Newtown High School in 2006 and is the daughter of Paul and Nancy Doniger.

The SUNY-Potsdam Honors Program, founded in 1998, seeks to provide an enhanced curricular and co-curricular experience for exceptionally talented students through special course offerings, unique opportunities for independent study, on-campus housing options. and other programming.

Allison I. Hornak, a student of Montserrat College of Art and a resident of Sandy Hook, was awarded the Alumni Scholarship Award this past spring. The scholarship included a $1,000 tuition credit toward the next fall’s tuition bill. The award is presented annually to a student with artistic excellence and a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

Francesca Piscitelli, a resident of Newtown, has been inducted into Lycoming College’s chapter of Psi Chi, the national honors society for psychology. Francesca, who will be a senior this coming fall at the Williamsport, Penn., college, is majoring in psychology and business administration with a specialization in management. She is a graduate of Newtown High School.

Psi Chi members are inducted for excellence in their scholarship of psychology. Psychology majors or minors can become members after completing eight semester hours of psychology and achieving 35 percent rank in their class.

Francesca’s name may seem familiar to readers: she was also named recently to Lycoming’s spring 2008 Dean’s List, and honored for special achievement at the college’s convocation in April, when she received an IRUSKA Honor Society Award, which is given for outstanding contribution to campus life in one or more student activities.

Matthew Schmitt of Newtown was named to the Spring 2008 Dean’s List at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.

Christopher A. Timmel, son of Caryl and William Timmel of Sandy Hook, was awarded a bachelor of science degree in applied psychology, cum laude, at New York University on May 14. Christopher will be working for the Urban Ecology Institute, under the AmeriCorps VISTA program, at Boston College for one year beginning in July. He is a 2004 graduate of Newtown High School.

Bucknell University has released the dean’s list for outstanding academic achievement during the spring semester of the 2007-08 academic year. A student must earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a scale of 4.0 to receive dean’s list recognition, and among those on the most recent list are Abigail L. Atkinson, daughter of Glenn and Mary Atkinson of Newtown and a 2006 graduate of Newtown High School; Amber D. Butler, daughter of Shawn and Laurel Butler of Newtown and a 2005 graduate of Newtown High School; Lauren N. Kostes, daughter of Stephen and Nicoletta Kostes of Newtown and a 2007 graduate of Newtown High School; and Alexander C. Meisel, son of Paul Meisel and Cheryl Clark of Newtown and also a  graduate of Newtown High School.

The University of Vermont conferred degrees in May on a 2,596 graduates, including 2,069 bachelor’s, 360 master’s, 85 doctoral, and 82 MD degree recipients, in addition to 20 post-baccalaureate certificates. Among degree recipients were students from 46 states and 18 countries, including Christopher Dubin of Sandy Hook and Jason Garbarino of Newtown.

Christopher, who was a natural resources major in the Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources, received a bachelor of science degree. Jason, a professional nursing major in the College of Nursing & Health Sciences, also earned a bachelor of science.

Aimee Clavette and Lauren Ross of Sandy Hook and Colin Curran, Joseph DeFeo, and Kyle Shukie of Newtown have all been named to the Dean’s List at Providence College, Providence, R.I., for the spring 2008 semester.