Montgomery County Public Schools 12th grade students have won 869 awards in the Maryland Distinguished Scholars program, which honors students throughout the state for their exceptional academic achievement or their talent in the visual and performing arts.

They include 129 finalist awards, 108 semifinalist awards and 632 honorable mention designations. All county high schools were represented in the program. MCPS had 115 academic finalists (32 percent of the 358 academic finalists in the state). Another 14 students were finalists in the talent category (16 percent of the 87 talent finalists in Maryland).

More than half of the county's finalists came from three high schools: Montgomery Blair (with the countywide Science, Mathematics, Computer Science Magnet program) had 34 finalists; Walt Whitman had 17 finalists; and Richard Montgomery (with a countywide International Baccalaureate program) had 16 finalists. Close behind were Winston Churchill with 14 finalists and Thomas S. Wootton with 12 finalists.

Every finalist will be offered a renewable annual scholarship of $3,000 for undergraduate study at a Maryland college or university. Semifinalists are offered scholarships not used by finalists. During the past few years, the state has been able to offer scholarships to all semifinalists.

All program honorees will receive a certificate of achievement or talent and will have their names sent to all public and private colleges and universities in Maryland.

Achievement finalists have either a 4.0 grade-point average (GPA) and SAT or PSAT scores of 1370 or higher, or a GPA of at least 3.7 and SAT or PSAT scores of 1460 or higher. All academic honorees are seniors who requested participation in the program last year.

Talent competitors in vocal and instrumental music, dance, drama and visual arts had to audition before or submit a portfolio for evaluation by panels of professionals.

The following list shows the total number of finalists, semifinalists and honorable mentions at each school (including arts honorees in parentheses).

§ Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School: 1 finalist, 1 semifinalist, 26 honorable mentions (including 4 in arts)
§ Montgomery Blair High School: 34 finalists (1 in arts), 10 semifinalists, 20 honorable mentions (4 in arts)
§ James Hubert Blake High School: 3 semifinalists, 26 honorable mentions (4 in arts)
§ Winston Churchill High School: 14 finalists, 16 semifinalists (2 in arts), 33 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Damascus High School: 2 finalists (1 in arts), 3 semifinalists, 28 honorable mentions (2 in arts)
§ Albert Einstein High School (including Visual Arts Center): 2 finalists; 2 semifinalists (in arts); 13 honorable mentions (2 in arts)
§ Gaithersburg High School: 1 finalist, 1 semifinalist, 43 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Walter Johnson High School: 8 finalists (1 in arts), 4 semifinalists, 50 honorable mentions (4 in arts)
§ John F. Kennedy High School: 2 finalists, 1 semifinalist (in arts), 14 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Col. Zadok Magruder High School: 2 finalists (1 in arts), 3 semifinalists (1 in arts), 30 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Richard Montgomery High School: 16 finalists (1 in arts), 12 semifinalists (1 in arts), 26 honorable mentions (2 in arts)
§ Northwest High School: 1 finalist (in arts), 3 semifinalists, 20 honorable mentions (4 in arts)
§ Paint Branch High School: 5 semifinalists, 33 honorable mentions (5 in arts)
§ Poolesville High School: 2 finalists (both in arts), 1 semifinalist, 21 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Quince Orchard High School: 5 finalists (2 in arts), 3 semifinalists, 26 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Rockville High School: 3 finalists (1 in arts), 1 semifinalist, 16 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Seneca Valley High School: 1 finalist, 3 semifinalists, 23 honorable mentions (4 in arts)
§ Sherwood High School: 4 semifinalists, 27 honorable mentions (4 in arts)
§ Springbrook High School: 2 finalists, 4 semifinalists, 19 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Watkins Mill High School: 3 finalists, 1 semifinalist, 24 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Wheaton High School: 1 finalist (in arts), 1 semifinalist, 14 honorable mentions (3 in arts)
§ Walt Whitman High School: 17 finalists, 15 semifinalists, 48 honorable mentions (4 in arts)
§ Thomas S. Wootton High School: 12 finalists (2 in arts), 11 semifinalists (1 in arts), 52 honorable mentions (3 in arts).