INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — An Incline Village native has been named a candidate for the prestigious 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

Aidan Pretti grew up in Incline Village and attended school there until after his freshman year of high school, when he moved to Massachusetts.

Pretti was nominated to be one of 4,500 students to be considered for the scholars program. There are currently 3.6 million high school seniors in the U.S., making Pretti one of only .01% of students to be nominated.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the United States Presidential Scholars Program was created in 1964 to recognize and honor some of the nation’s most distinguished graduating seniors. It has since been extended to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in visual, creative and performing arts or in career and technical education fields.

Each year, 161 students are named as scholars.

The 4,500 candidates are chosen based on academic achievement and SAT or ACT scores or can be nominated.

After leaving Incline, Pretti attended the Phillips Academy where he was a president in the Andover Political Union, a head peer tutor in precalculus and German, and played lacrosse and varsity football. He is headed to Dartmouth this fall.

A panel of educators will select 600 semifinalists in mid April. The Commission on Presidential Scholars will select the finalists, and the scholars will be announced in May.

To learn more, visit http://www.ed.gov/psp.

Correction: This article has been updated with the Incline native’s correct first name.