More than 1,500 seniors commemorate rite of passage

Photo Courtesy: PUSD
On May 29, 270 Pomona High School graduates turned their tassels to cap their high school careers.

By Juliette Funes

Pomona – Academic achievement was the prevailing theme as 1,500 Pomona Unified School District graduates participated in commencement exercises during the first week of June. Students in the Class of 2015 received diplomas and turned their tassels from right to left, many of them looking forward to the next step of their educational careers.

The PUSD graduates will be headed to an impressive number of leading universities, among them UCLA, USC, UC Davis, UC Irvine UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, Cal Poly Pomona, Pitzer College and Vassar College. Jeremy Tran, the Valedictorian for Diamond Ranch High School, earned the District’s top grade point average, at 4.944. Tran will attend UC Berkeley.

“The rewards of a rich and diverse education will resonate emphatically throughout a graduate’s life,” said Board of Education President Andrew Wong. “Our mission is to provide for our students the foundations of accomplishment and to develop the skill sets necessary to meet the challenges in the 21^st century. We applaud the Class of 2015 and wish them the best of luck.”

Diamond Ranch led the way with 450 graduates; Garey High with 313 grads; Pomona High with 270

Photo Courtesy: PUSD
Diamond Ranch High School celebrated 450 graduates during its commencement ceremony June 3;

grads; Ganesha High with 250 grads; Village Academy with 95 grads; Fremont Academy with 68 grads and Palomares Academy with 28 grads. Among PUSD’s alternative education campuses, Park West High graduated 43 students and the School of Extended Education Options and the Pomona Alternative School combined to graduate 39.

The District has also seen a steady rise in graduation rates since 2010, the year that the California Department of Education adjusted its reporting to track students over all four years. In 2010, the grad rate was 71.8 percent; today it is well over 83 percent, topping the state average of 80.8 percent and the Los Angeles County average of 78 percent.

“These tremendous results demonstrate that we are succeeding in our mission to see our students earn their high school diplomas and leave our schools with the tools and skills they need to excel in the next steps of their lives,” Superintendent Richard Martinez said. “Helping our students reach their goals takes the dedication of our entire Pomona Unified family, including our staff, our parents and our community. I wish our Class of 2015 graduates continued success and we cannot wait to see all they achieve in the future.”