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Eighty-eight Fairfax County Public Schools students have been named candidates for the 2026 U.S. Presidential Scholars program, accounting for more than 43% of Virginia’s candidates.

The students are among more than 5,000 candidates nationwide. The updated list includes:

Centreville High School

  • Isabel K. Jung

Chantilly High School

  • Abhiram Gaddam
  • Kyle Y. Li
  • Tejas Kasi

Fairfax High School

  • Aniket Nair-Das
  • Kai C. Stone
  • Samuel J. Park

James Madison High School

  • Margaret L. Kisner

Lake Braddock Secondary School

  • Joshua J. Lee
  • Manas A. Puri
  • Sarah C. Roelke
  • Sela Rongero

Langley High School

  • Abigail F. Davis
  • Eesha K. Kaushik
  • Elizabeth MacLay
  • Megan M. Connery
  • Meredith A. Yu
  • Oscar W. Anderson
  • Virginia W. Gao

McLean High School

  • Daniel D. Kim
  • Jeffrey Yin
  • Kalan Warusa
  • Pengmu Wang

Oakton High School

  • Albert Y. Zhu
  • Linus I. Koepcke
  • Ryan J. Shin

South Lakes High School

  • William A. Burks

Edison High School

  • Saifullah Mahmood

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

  • Aarushi G. Kanigicherla
  • Aashritha Penumudi
  • Abeni A. Smith
  • Aditi Narayan
  • Aditya R. Pujari
  • Alaina M. Szeto
  • Anna D. Kim
  • Anna Park
  • Ansh M. Malhotra
  • Anusha Agarwal
  • Aryan Garg
  • Avnith Vijayram
  • Ayla Zhang
  • Bowen L. MacGillivray
  • Breanne G. Graham
  • Caroline Li
  • Clinton H. Morimoto
  • Daniel X. Feng
  • Elizabeth Courtenay R. Klein
  • Ella M. Zhang
  • Ethan I. O’Hara
  • Ethan J. Lee
  • Haasini Govindu
  • Henry J. Stievater
  • Hrishi Bhooma
  • Ibrahim A. Harchich
  • Jessica Chen
  • Joseph George
  • Juliet C. Phillips
  • Justin J. Kim
  • Justin Yu
  • Kavin Narayanan
  • Kobimtochi Odo
  • Kody Hromek-Vaitla
  • Lucas B. Zhu
  • Luv Udeshi
  • Moira E. Clark
  • Nishka A. Shah
  • Nived Nandakumar
  • Noam Nikolich
  • Olivia Wu
  • Owen Davenport
  • Payton E. Morris
  • Rachel C. Du
  • Rachel C. Truong
  • Rishikesh Narayana
  • Rohan Honganoor
  • Rohan Singh
  • Samantha W. Maloney
  • Shaanvhi Jayaram
  • Siwen Shen
  • Tayne Han
  • Theodore Hwang
  • Valerie Lai
  • Viola Pande

W.T. Woodson High School

  • Aiden A. Brennan
  • Alexander Liu

West Springfield High School candidates:

  • Wenlan A. Qiu

Westfield High School candidates:

  • Manojna Kandlagunta
  • Salban Nithilaselvan

More than 5,000 students expected to graduate from high school in 2026 qualified as candidates through strong SAT or ACT performance or nominations from chief state school officers and other partner organizations. Candidates may also advance through the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists’ nationwide YoungArts competition.

The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars considers academic achievement, artistic and technical excellence, essays, school evaluations, transcripts, community service, leadership and commitment to high ideals.

Up to 161 students are selected as U.S. Presidential Scholars each year. Under the program’s structure, scholars include one young man and one young woman from every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, along with students from U.S. families living abroad. The program also includes 15 at-large scholars, 20 Scholars in the Arts and 20 Scholars in Career and Technical Education.

The 2026 scholars are expected to be announced in late spring or summer.