Duluth High Graduating 564 Seniors

Twenty-one graduation ceremonies will take place throughout Gwinnett County this week. Duluth High School will graduate 564 seniors including 120 honor graduates at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Gwinnett Center Arena.

John Kaffezakis is the valedictorian for Duluth High School, and Nolan Gregory Graham is salutatorian.

John, the son of John and Becky Kaffezakis, plans to attend Georgia Tech on scholarship and major in radiological engineering.

Nolan, the son of Greg and Jane Graham, plans to attend Oxford College of Emory University and Emory University on scholarship and major in neuroscience and behavioral biology.

More than 10,500 Gwinnett County Public Schools students will walk across the stage and receive their high school diplomas. The 10,556 high school seniors who make up the Class of 2013 represent the school system’s largest class ever.

Brookwood High graduates the largest class this year with 810 students, followed by Mill Creek High with 782, and Peachtree Ridge High with 769.
“We are very proud of this year’s senior class and all that these students have accomplished during their academic careers. On behalf of the Board of Education and our community, I congratulate them and wish them the best as they start a new chapter in their lives,” said GCPS CEO/Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks.

“As the members of the Class of 2013 head off to college and into careers, they will carry the lessons they learned in Gwinnett classrooms with them, which is a testament to our teachers and their hard work and commitment. After all, the success of this year’s senior class is a part of our school district’s story – a story that focuses on graduating students with the knowledge, skills, and expertise they need to succeed in college, work, and life in the 21st century.”

The senior report for the Class of 2013 shows that:

• 84% of the students graduating this year report that they plan to continue their education by attending college or postsecondary schools. The vast majority, or 86% of them, plan to stay in their home state attending college in Georgia.
• The seniors who plan to continue their education have been offered, as of April of 2013, more than $137 million in academic, athletic, and military scholarships. That’s $36 million more than last year’s class.
• The majority of the scholarship amount, more than $ 86.4 million, was earned for academic achievement. Gwinnett students also received $45.4 in athletic scholarships, and $5.2 million due to military appointments. The monetary awards do not include HOPE, QuestBridge Scholarship recipients, or Gates Millennium Scholars. 
• 12 Gwinnett students will have their college career paid in full after they were named Gates Millennium Scholars.
• Six seniors earned a full scholarship through the QuestBridge College Match Program.
• 13 students received military appointments.
• The Class of 2013 also includes 2,318 Honor Graduates, who are graduating with a grade percent average of 90 or better.
• During their high school career, 5,014 seniors took 11, 823 Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
• While members of the Class of 2013 were working on their high school diploma, 518 of them also were already ahead in their college career as dual enrolled students.

Source: Gwinnett County Public Schools