Bragging Rights
2022-2023 Achievements
- Ranked #1 in the University of Iowa Belin-Blank Center 2022 AP Index
- For more information about the ranking visit iowaapindex.org
- #1 Best K-12 Private School in Iowa (Niche.com)
- Top 5% Private K-12 Schools Nationally
- #1 Best Private High School in Iowa (Niche.com)
- Top 5% Private High Schools Nationally
- #1 Best Boarding School in Iowa (Niche.com)
- Top 16% Best Boarding School Nationally
- #2 Best Iowa High School – STEM (Niche.com)
- Top 10% Best High School for STEM Nationally
- #2 Most Diverse Iowa School (Niche.com)
- Top 4% Most Diverse Private High Schools Nationally
- Maharishi School Robotics Team advances to FIRST Robotics Super Qualifier
- Jacobson Institute Design Dash Winners 2023
- Ishita’s team won “Best Innovation”
- Jessie & Kiara’s team won “Understanding the Customer”
- August and Keshav’s team won “Best Pitch Overall”
- For more information about the Jacobson Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship and Design Dash visit: https://jacobsoninstitute.org/bizinnovator/designdash
- Maharishi School Rocketry Team qualified for The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC) Nationals in Virginia as one of the top 100 in the nation
- Finished 17th in the US, out of almost 800 original entries
- Qualified for the NASA Student Launch Program next year
- Maharishi School Girls and Boys Tennis teams advanced to the “Sweet 16” in the IHSAA state competition
- Junior Ishita Mukadam finished 7th in the singles competition
- Hawkeye State Science Fair – Maharishi School students placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd
- Poojita Mukadam received an invitation to observe at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Dallas.
- Junior Ishita Mukadam earned an invitation to the National Junior Symposium in Virginia to present her research project
- Senior Devrishi Eisner earned all-conference recognition in golf
- Destination Imagination (DI) team advanced to the international Global Finals in Kansas City.
- Finished 1st in Instant Challenge and 7th overall in their Secondary Technical category. This is the first time a Maharishi School team has won the Instant Challenge award
- Maharishi School Coral Reading Performance selected for the Iowa High School Speech Association All-State Festival
2021-2022 Achievements
- Ranked #1 Iowa High School – STEM for 2022 by Niche.com, as well as #1 Most Diverse Private High School, #1 K-12 Private School in Iowa, #1 Private Iowa School and #1 Boarding School in Iowa. Top 6% Private Schools in the US
- Destination Imagination advanced to International Competition achieving 7th Place in Global Finals in Kansas City, MO
- Rocketry team qualified for Team America Rocketry Challenge Nationals (TARC)
- Choral Reading entry (6 students) earns the honor of performing at the Iowa High School Speech Association (IHSSA) All-State Large Group Festival
- All four of our entries earned First Place championships in their categories at the Hawkeye State Science and Engineering Fair
- Junior Ishita Mukadam advanced to INTEL International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Atlanta, GA.
- Both boys and girls tennis teams advanced to their district events
- 6th Grade student scored in the 90th percentile compared with all students grades 6-8 in the Middle School Math Counts competition.
- Robotics team advances to Super-Qualifier in the FIRST Robotics competition
- Many middle and upper school students invested community service hours in the Interact Club of Rotary International
- Junior Polo Altynski-Ross published his book, The Polish Prince, from the memoirs of his grandfather, Zbigniew Janczewski.
- Alumna Shristi Sharma (Class of 2021) earned the prestigious Robertson Scholars Leadership Program full scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University. She also won a national poetry competition and $5000 from the publication Brown Girl and presented twice to dignitaries in Washington, D.C. And she is advocating for immigration policy reform for “Documented Dreamers” like herself who have grown up in the US with legal status, but could be deported at age 21 unless the law changes. She has met several Congressional leaders and is featured in related media.
2020-2021 Achievements
- Ranked #1 Best Private High School in Iowa for 2021 by Niche.com, as well as #1 most diverse Private High School, #1 K-12 Private School in Iowa, Best College Prep Private High School, and Best Boarding School
- Rocketry team qualified for Team America Rocketry Challenge Nationals and was one of five finalists nationally in the Presentation competition
- Sophomore Blake Jarmosco named to the Southeast Iowa All-Conference soccer team
- Senior Shristi Sharma Hawkeye State Science and Engineering Fair Champion, Intel International Science & Engineering Fair participant
- State Tennis Singles Qualifier, Lily Fenton, ties for 9th place in competition in Waterloo
- On Campus COVID testing at our lab all year to protect students, staff and faculty for PCR results in 24 hours
2019-2020 Achievements
- Ranked #1 Best Private High School in Iowa for 2020 by Niche.com, as well as #1 most diverse Private High School, #1 K-12 Private School in Iowa, Best College Prep Private High School, and Best Boarding School
- Completed 2019-2020 academic year with required classes and attendance for online learning in 4th quarter as one of the only 2% of Iowa schools continuing education excellence during the COVID pandemic
- Questbridge Scholarship awarded a 4-year full scholarship to Princeton University to our graduate Yenet Tafeese
- Pulse, posture, pranayama instruction course
- Pioneer Pride houses: Adventurers, Innovators, Trailblazers, Visionaries
2018-2019 Achievements
- Ranked #1 Best Private High School in Iowa for 2019 by Niche.com, as well as #1 most diverse Private High School, #1 K-12 Private School in Iowa, Best College Prep Private High School, and Best Boarding School
- Six teams competed at the 2019 DestiNation Imagination Global Finals competition in Kansas City.
- In rocketry, we qualified for the Team America Rocketry Competition (TARC)
- Senior Pranav Chhaliyil was selected as an Intel International Science & Engineering Fair Finalist
- Sophomore Shristi Sharma received 1st place at the University of Iowa Hackathon
- We opened our on-campus residential hall for domestic and international students
- Introduced Positive Discipline and 3R’s sexuality education curriculum workshop and implementation
- Expanded to added new AP courses including : AP English Language, AP US History, AP Physics, AP calculus, and AP Computer Science
2017-2018 Achievements
- Two teams competed at the 2018 DestiNation Imagination Global Finals competition.
- In rocketry, we received 7th and 10th place, at the Team America Rocketry Competition (out of more than 800 teams) and the only school to place 2 teams in the top 10.
- Also in rocketry, Maharishi School was one of 14 High Schools invited to participate in the NASA Student Launch Program; NASA Student Launch Program: #2 – Project Outreach category
- In tennis, we received several honors: 2018 District Triple Crown Winners, 2018 Team State Runner-up, and 2018 Doubles State Runner-up (Kai Vessey and Devan Burke)
- EISEF: Honorable Mention, Senior; and Inspiring Excellence: Alan B. Adams Meritorious Achievement
- Jay Coplea, selected as an IHSSA Individual All-State Performer: Literary Program
- Shristi Sharma, State Science and Technology Fair, 2018: 1) Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Trip Award, Student Observer, 2) 1st Place in the Computer Science category, 3) Intel Excellence in Computer Science and $200 cash award.
- Pranav Chhalliyil received several awards: Intel Regeneron 2018 Nominee, named Biotechnology Institute STEM Ambassador
Launched GIFTS Charcoal company and product line, National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium Finalist
Best In Vitro Biology Project, Iowa State Science Fair
3rd Place Iowa Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (first time in Maharishi School), and 3rd Place Microbiology, Iowa State Science Fair - Rick Rudloff’s, a Maharishi School rocketry teacher, received the Outstanding Advisor of the Year (TARC).
- 24/7 Wall Street ranks Maharishi School as the #1 best Private School in Iowa.
2016-2017 Achievements
- Ranked #2 best private high school in Iowa by Niche.com, as well as #1 best private high school for diversity.
- In creative problem solving, 1st Place at DestiNation Imagination Global Finals. Alista Wikle, Philip Winer, Loreena Hansen, Drew Schoenfeld, and Caleb Mullenneaux won the first place at the international level of the DestiNation Imagination competition, as well as the Da Vinci Award for outstanding creativity.
- In rocketry, 4th place at Team America Rocketry Challenge. The Rocketry Team, including Wayne Li, Bridgit Bianco, Miles Falk, and Karthik Vempati, finished 4th out of 823 teams at the national competition in Huntsville, Alabama.
- In scientific research, finalist at the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair and 3rd place in Microbiology division. Pranav Chhalliyil was also named Finalist and National winner of the Global Healthcare Challenge at the International BioGENEius Challenge 2017; won the International BioGENEius GENEPool Competition; named Honorary Grand Champion of the 2017 Iowa State Science and Technology Fair.
- In tennis, 2nd place at Iowa State Singles Tennis. Kai Vessey won second place in the Iowa State Singles Tennis Competition and the Pioneer team won the Class 1A Triple Crown District Championship (Singles, Doubles, and Team).
- In computer science, Middle School Winner. Shristi Sharma won the Eastern Iowa Science and Engineering Fair 2017 as well as a Broadcom Masters Outstanding Achievement Award.
- Each of our graduating students is off to a running start, attending universities and colleges such as George Washington University, Penn State, St. Olaf College, Otis College of Art and Design, California State – Long Beach, University of Glasgow, University of Indiana, and University of Iowa Honors Program.
2015-2016 Achievements
- Pranav Chhalliyil won the State Science Fair Grand Championship as a 9th grader, the youngest in state history, and won 4th place at the International INTEL Science and Engineering Fair. He studied the relative effectiveness of three different methods of traditional oral hygiene.
- The team of Anna Unger and Devan Burke won the State Champion Critic’s Choice banner in Musical Theatre, our 18th championship in drama and our first in this category.
- We won our first awards in Iowa High School Musical Theatre program, with three participants in the All-State performance in Des Moines.
- In the creativity competition Destination Imagination, seven Maharishi School teams won state championship awards in their division, qualifying them for the international competition. At the Global Finals, teams placed 7th and 17th.
- The Rocketry Team finished 112th out of 789 entries in the largest national competition.
- In track, Ross Emmanuel earned 2nd place in the State 800 meter and Distance Medley events, and 5th in the 400-meter run in which he set our School record.
- The Boys’ Tennis team finished in the Top 8 in Iowa, with Chandre Morales earning 3rd Place in State Singles and Kai Vessey and Daniel Zhu earning 3rd Place in State Doubles.
- We successfully expanded Project-Based Learning with many creative projects: entrepreneurship, rocketry, video production, ceramics, culinary arts, food blogs, app design, experimental music and songwriting, individual projects, and more. These projects had real-world applications and specific products that were shared in our quarterly Showcase events.
- Graduating students have been accepted at 35 colleges across the US, including Rensselaer Polytech, UC-Irvine, UC-Santa Barbara, Washington U, Academy of Art in San Francisco, Sarah Lawrence, Maryland Institute, Arcadia, South Dakota, Purdue, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Achievements Over Our 30-year History
University Admissions
- Over 96% accepted at accredited universities, including Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Wellesley, University of California at Berkley
18 National Merit® Scholars (highest academic honor for top 1% of national entrants)
- Twice the national average over the last 30 years
- Over 100 Finalists, Semifinalists, and Commended Scholars
Science
- Iowa Science & Engineering Fairs: 47 state champions, multiple special awards
- Multiple National and International Awards at prestigious competitions including: International Intel Science and Engineering Fair, International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment Project Olympiad, National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, American Junior Academy of Science
- 2017 4th in US at Team American Rocketry Competition
- 2010 Robotics State Champion in first year of competition
Math
- Four times 1st Place in the American High School Math Exam
- 1st in Iowa, Mathematical Association of America
Destination ImagiNation (international creative problem-solving competition)/Odyssey of the Mind
- 60 state champions, 7 Global Finals 1st Place winners, 35 other Top Ten awards, most wins in the state, 2000-2017
Speech (Drama)
- 18 state championships
Visual Arts
- 39 selected for Photography International Educational Association, 2001-2011
- 24 selected for the Iowa Congressional Art Competition and displayed in the US Capitol, 2001-2011
- 200 Iowa Super Conference Art Competition awards, 1993-2015
Poetry
- 2010: State Champion 1st Place from over 200 submissions
- 2011: Honorable Mention
Tennis
- 18 boys and girls state champions: 8 singles, 5 doubles, and 4 team; Triple Crown sweep
- 2009 United States Professional Tennis Association National High School Tennis Coach of the Year
Golf
- Two boys state champions (individual and team)
Track and Field
- Track and Field: Two boys state champions (long jump and 800 meters)
Soccer
- Boys’ soccer: 2010 League Champions
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