On September 25, five of Paint Branch’s very own, Carol Barnes, Arjun Chhabra, Salena Jacob, Reshma Muppala, and Sneha Rao, were named Commended Students in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program. The students were among 34,000 Commended Students nationally and placed in the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students entered in this year’s competition.

Although these students had exceptionally high PSAT scores and performed at very high levels they will not continue in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship competition.

Commended Scholar Carol Barned expressed her joy at getting the commendation letter. She stated, " I am very happy to reciveve this award and, although I didn’t win, I’m still proud of my performance. I am also very happy that other PB studetns recieved the award." A spokesperson for the National Merit Scholarship Program noted that these "young men and women named Commended Students represent some of the most academically talented students in our country."