Sacred Heart Preparatory Celebrates Commencement in its 125th Year

Sacred Heart Preparatory (SHP) graduated 149 students at its commencement ceremony on Friday, May 24—a momentous occasion taking place in the same year the school is celebrating its 125th anniversary. Graduates from the Class of 2024 will attend at least 72 different institutions: at least 55 students will study in California, 90 will study out of state, and two will study out of the country.

Twenty-nine students earned recognition by the National Merit Scholarship program (six were finalists and 23 were commended), while an equal 29 students have committed to play intercollegiate athletics.

Thirty-two members of the graduating class have been on the preschool – grade 12 Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton (SHS) campus for 12 or more years.

This year's event was held at SHS's football field; it was a formal ceremony in front of families, with the delivery of diplomas to graduates, and the traditional reading of each graduate’s name aloud.

At the ceremony, diplomas were presented by Marnie Marcin, chair of the Board of Trustees; Richard A. Dioli, director of schools; Jorge Reyes, assistant principal, curriculum and academics; and Jason Armstrong, assistant principal for athletics. Dioli gave remarks along with SHP Principal Dr. Jennie Whitcomb; Valedictorian Thalia Stavropoulos, Salutatorian JP Kerrigan, and faculty speaker Julie Tsutsui, SHP math teacher.

Following a century-old school tradition, "Blue Ribbons" were awarded to select students, nominated by the faculty and ratified by the administration. Blue Ribbons are the highest honor given by SHS to graduating seniors and reflect outstanding achievement in academics and standards of character in the fulfillment of one or more of the school's guiding Goals & Criteria.

Graduates receiving a Light Blue Ribbon, for embodiment of a particular Goal and its criteria, were awarded to:

 

Graham Kaestner and Evelini Mila for Goal I: A personal and active faith in God; 

 

Samir Ravi and Thalia Stavropoulos for Goal II: A deep respect for intellectual values; 

 

Redmond Averbuck and Yana Gulati for Goal III: A social awareness which impels to action; 

 

Tyler Hogan, Megan Sweeney, and Makena Tom for Goal IV: The building of community as a Christian value; 

 

Avery “AJ” Noto, Ravuama Savali, and Charles Lafaele Tangitau for Goal V: Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom;

 

Graduates Donna Garcia Ramirez and Carl Crum each received a Dark Blue Ribbon, for embodiment of the values implicit in a Sacred Heart education.

 

For 18 consecutive years, SHP’s athletics program has sent at least 10 percent of each year’s graduating class to play athletics at the intercollegiate level. The Class of 2024 will send 29 athletes to play in college across 11 different sports.

With college choices ranging from public and private institutions large and small, the Class of 2024 shows a breadth of interests in its future academic goals. Students plan to pursue programs as wide ranging as STEM, visual and performing arts, humanities, social sciences, business, and more.

In closing, Valedictorian Thalia Stavropoulos gave the following advice to the Class of 2024, “be open and be yourself, because sharing our distinctive gifts is what has made our SHP community so special, and it is what will make our next communities so remarkable too.”