The National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist list was released today and Little Rock Central High School again led the state with 18, followed by Cabot High with 12 and Fayetteville High with 9. Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, a small charter school, had seven.

A friend provided this analysis:

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More than 1.4 million high school juniors took the qualifying test last October. About 16,000, or just over 1 percent, qualified as semi-finalists. Arkansas had 132, down from 150 last year and less than 1 percent of the state’s seniors. Arkansas’s semi-finalists comprise 102 public school students, 24 from private schools and six home-schooled students. Only 49 of the state’s 300 or more high schools had a semi-finalist.

Here are the 12 largest high schools in Arkansas, ranked by enrollment, with semi-finalist counts:

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1. Bentonville HS (4 Semifinalists)

2. Springdale HS (2 Semifinalists)

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3. Cabot HS (12 Semifinalists)

4. Conway HS (6 Semifinalists)

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5. North Little Rock HS (1 Semifinalist)

6. Little Rock Central HS (18 Semifinalists)

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7. Bryant HS (2 Semifinalists)

8. Fayetteville HS (9 Semifinalists)

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9. Springdale HarBer HS (5 Semifinalists)

10. Ft Smith Southside HS (2 Semifinalists)

11. Rogers HS (3 Semifinalists)

12. Rogers Heritage HS (2 Semifinalists)

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In Pulaski County, in addition to Central, there was one semi-finalist each at North Little Rock High and Mills Magnet, both public schools. Among private schools Episcopal Collegiate had 4, Pulaski Academy 3, Arkansas Baptist, Catholic High, Central Arkansas Christian and LISA Academy, two each, and one from LISA North. There were three (not one as origianlly written) home-schooled semi-finalists in Pulaski County.

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