Magnet School Lauded for National Scholars

Faculty and staff members of the North Hollywood High Magnet School for the Highly Gifted were commended Monday for helping to produce a district record--four national Advanced Placement scholars.

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ruben Zacarias lauded the teachers and administrators, who all played a part in producing the scholars. The previous district record of two Advanced Placement scholars was set the previous year by the magnet school.

Last fall, George Lee, Howard Chong, Manish Singh and Carmel Levitan, all of whom graduated last June, were named as four of only 10 Advanced Placement scholars nationwide. They were the only students awarded the recognition in California last year.

“Obviously, they are doing something right at that school and they deserve to be commended,” said Socorro Serrano, a spokeswoman for the school district.

Serrano said that this year, two of the magnet school’s students have already qualified for consideration to become national Advanced Placement scholars.

Students can take Advanced Placement, or AP, exams in a variety of subjects during their high school careers. If they pass with a score of 3 or better out of a possible 5, they can earn college credit.

The four students not only performed well on the tests, but each scored within percentage points of a perfect 5 average.

Lee had the top score in the nation. Chong finished third, Singh finished fourth and Levitan finished seventh. Levitan is attending Stanford University. The others are students at UC Berkeley.