Over 400 Norwalk High School students will accept diplomas this evening at the 116th annual commencement at Testa Field. This year’s graduates were accepted to over 350 universities including American University, Brown University, Clemson University, Delaware State University, Gettysburg College, Miami University, MIT, Norwalk Community College, Princeton University, Skidmore College, Yale University and more.
Norwalk High School graduating seniors earned over 100 scholarships this year ranging from the Kevin M. Eidt Memorial Scholarship Fund, to the Norwalk Federation of Teachers Scholarship, Norwalk High School Integrity Award, Pastime Athletic Club Scholarship, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Scholarship, The Jae Lin Memorial Scholarship and more.
Senior Class President Colin Baker will follow remarks from NPS Superintendent Dr. Steven Adamowski with a greeting from the senior class. Class Secretary Kelly Halloran and Treasurer Lauren Muldowney will present class gifts, and Class Vice President Chaz Bethel-Brescia will present to the retiring teachers. Ryan Stelly, the Class Salutatorian, will then address graduates followed by speeches by Covaledictorians Katerina Karaiskos and Chaz Bethel-Brescia. This year’s program recognizes members of the National Honor Society as well as students who graduated in the top ten percent of their class.
Norwalk High School Principal Reginald Roberts spoke of the class of 2018 as being “aware of the responsibility to care for their fellow students as well as the community that surrounds them.”
“The class of 2018 worked hard to accomplish success in areas both academic and philanthropic. This is a class that orchestrated and truly showed up for charity events, clean up initiatives, the fight against cancer, and spotlighted the importance of living a healthy lifestyle,” said Roberts. “We are extremely proud of our students and look forward to seeing what they will do next as they continue on to various colleges and universities.”
As part of Norwalk Public School’s commitment to offer school choice, Norwalk High School offers a diverse range of academic opportunities and pathways, including the Norwalk Early College Academy (NECA), Advanced Placement courses for college credit, and the newly designed Digital Media and Communications Academy.
Twelve NECA graduates received an Associate in Applied Science degree in software engineering from Norwalk Community College in May. A partnership between Norwalk Public Schools, Norwalk Community College and IBM, this is the first graduating class from what is Connecticut's first P-TECH school.
This year marks the first opportunity for students to be awarded the Connecticut State Seal of Biliteracy. This honor, established by the State Board of Education, acknowledges that a student has demonstrated mastery of two or more languages. The Seal of Biliteracy also provides recognition to English learners for the great value of developing English and maintaining their primary language.
The Norwalk High School four-year graduation rate in 2017 was 94.1. The overall NPS graduation rate for 2017 was higher than the State for the third year in a row. This ranking positions NPS as first in our District Reference Group (DRG), which compares NPS with other districts with similar socioeconomic status across the state. Increasing Norwalk's graduation rate is part of the overall district objectives to implement the right strategies, systems and supports to ensure that all students leave Grade 12 ready for future academic or work success.