Fairfield Prep has announced students who were named at National Merit Semifinalists. The students were submitted for the recognition by taking the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test taken in their junior year. Connor Byrne of Newtown has been named in the list, and was recognized for the accomplishment recently by the school. In the photo, Connor stands with the Reverend John H. Hanwell, SJ, president of the school. More than one million students from across the nation entered the competition by taking the test.

Brendan Blawie of Sandy Hook, majoring in university studies at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, has finished the new cadet training week with the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, and is now part of the university’s longest standing tradition of leadership development, according to the college.

Thirty-one students at Westover School have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP exams. Elena Unschuld, a member of the Class of 2011 from Sandy Hook, is among those students.

Bryant University has admitted the following local students, all residents of Sandy Hook, to its Class of 2014: James Bowers, Connor McNamara, Lisa Vendel, and  Shane Wurtz.