They’re bringing brainy back.
The city’s public schools bounced back from last year’s poor showing in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search, yesterday, upping the number of semifinalists representing the Big Apple to 24.
That marks a vast improvement over last year’s low of just 14 city public-school seniors who were tapped as semifinalists, but not quite a return to the heyday of a decade ago, when 59 public-school students here made the grade.
This year’s crop of city smarties was among 300 students nationally to make it to the next round in the so-called “Junior Nobel Prize.”
“I just found out . . . I was totally overwhelmed with joy, because all my hard work is paying off!” said Staten Island Tech senior Stephanie Azzopardi, 17.
The Columbia University hopeful is captain of her school’s fencing and bowling teams, works a part-time job at a medical office, and gives free makeovers to women in nursing homes as a volunteer for the GlamourGals Foundation.
Stuyvesant HS landed 13 semifinalists, while Bronx Science HS mirrored its 2011 showing with eight.
Hunter College HS, which is operated by CUNY rather than by the city’s Department of Education, put up two semifinalists.
