The graduating class of Preuss School at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) will begin commencement ceremonies at 4 p.m. Friday, June 27, to honor a founding chair soon to retire, 97 students bound for life and a new principal.
Scott Barton was officially named Preuss’ principal this month, said Pat JaCoby, UCSD spokeswoman. He will welcome parents and the community during his first graduation ceremony with Cecil Lytle, outgoing chair. Lytle is the provost of UCSD’s Thurgood Marshall College and a professor of music.
“Cecil Lytle was one of the founding members of the school and served as chair of the Preuss school board,” JaCoby said. “He’ll be welcoming parents and the community on behalf of the board but it will be the last time he’ll be in that position.”
Lytle and Barton will accompany 12 Preuss graduates while they welcome families in 10 different languages, including French, Vietnamese, Russian, Tagalog, Japanese, Cambodian, Oromo, Laotian, Spanish and English.
“Ricardo Vera, the valedictorian, is going to Dartmouth,” JaCoby said. “The interesting thing is where they are all going. The senior class president, Milana Edwards, is going to Georgetown.”
Salutatorians are Stanford-bound Keary Champi and Dorothy Nguyen, enrolled at Notre Dame, who will address the class of 2008 with Vera.
Edwards will lead the tassel ceremony, while Antoinette Brou, the Associated Student Body president who plans to attend UC Los Angeles, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
“The point of a college prep school is to go to UC campuses, and there are 24 [Preuss] students going to UC campuses ” every one, from Berkeley to UCLA to the newest campus, UC Merced,” JaCoby said.
Recently, Newsweek magazine ranked the Preuss charter school sixth in the nation among other high schools regarded as “the best in America.” The college-preparatory school helps low-income students in grades six through 12 become the first in their family to attend a four-year college. The school was also ranked the 10th best high school in the country by U.S. News and World Report.
Commencement ceremonies, which begin at 4 p.m. at Man-chester Field, are open to the public.
For more information, visit www.preuss.ucsd.edu.