Three local residents are among the 38 Woodside Priory School students designated AP Scholars by the College Board in recognition of exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement exams. Three Priory students earned the award of National AP Scholar, which requires an average grade of 4 or higher on a five-point scale on all AP exams taken, and grades of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams.

The 38 scholars represent 34 percent of the school’s students who took the exams last May, said Brother Edward Englund, director of guidance and counseling. About 17 percent of the more than 1 million high school students in the nation who took the exams qualified for the honor.

Daniel Wenger of Los Altos and Aaron Mandle of Los Altos Hills, the latter now a student at Brown University, earned the designation of AP Scholar with Distinction, which requires an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.

Alice MacKay of Los Altos, now a student at Reed College, qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor award, earned by achieving an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.

Students who have not yet graduated have a year or more in which they could earn another AP Scholar award. Most colleges and universities award credit, advanced placement, or both, to students with superior performance on the AP exams. More than 1,400 institutions award a full year’s credit (sophomore standing) to students presenting a sufficient number of qualifying grades.