Photos by Steve Ognibene.
In his opening remarks for the last class of Notre Dame graduates he will oversee, Principal Wade Bianco bragged about the parochial high school by way of praising the accomplishments of the Class of 2023.
"This class, 37 of them, 37 graduates, has a four-year GPA, that is 16 quarters in an unweighted school -- no grades are cushioned. Here, there is no cushion. You got to earn it. This class has an 8.71 GPA."
The class, he said, has earned $3,719,068 in scholarships.
He said the average graduate in the Class of 2023 is leaving high school with 22 college credits.
"When you come to our school, you can take that last year of college and knock it off," Bianco said. "Most of our graduates are done with college after three years because they front-load many of their courses at our school with teachers that they know and trust, and what better way to earn college credit at a reduced cost? And our kids have done an incredible job with that."
After noting that Notre Dame -- though he said some people won't believe it -- is an academics-first school, he listed the 12 sports teams that won sectional titles in the past four years, including two in girls basketball, two in girls soccer, a long with baseball, volleyball, boys basketball, girls swim, tennis, and football.
The co-salutatorians were Maylee Green and Aaron Treleavan, who used their speeches to also highlight the accomplishments of their classmates, from involvement in sports to academic pursuits and school clubs.
Valedictorian Brenna Munn said the Class of 2023 faced many challenges and face new challenges ahead but that the class is ready to step into promising futures.
"What matters now is the impact this class makes on the world," Munn said. "We will no longer roam our two hallways. We'll walk along city streets or from lecture hall to lecture hall. Whether our high school participation included a team sport or clubs, we now find ourselves thrust into society with fewer activities but with an impact on a much higher scale."
Photos by Steve Ognibene.
