Ninety-Four Percent of Preuss School ‘09 Graduates Headed to Four-Year Colleges

June 12, 2009

By Pat JaCoby

Jonathan Wosen

With four or more intense years of college-preparatory courses behind them, 96 senior class members of the Preuss School at UC San Diego will receive diplomas during graduation ceremonies at 4 p.m. June 26 on Manchester Field. And an impressive 94 percent of the class will celebrate reaching the goal they’ve worked toward—acceptance at a four-year college or university.

The commencement will open with greetings extended by students in 14 languages—Arabic, Amharic, English, Farsi, French, Igbo, Ilocano, Japanese, Lao, Mandarin, Oromo, Spanish, Tigrinya and Vietnamese. Scott Barton, Preuss School principal, and Dr. Sandra Daley, chair of the Preuss School board, will welcome families and guests.

Representing the graduating class, valedictorians James Noraky and Jonathan Wosen, and salutatorian Catalina Santos, will give brief addresses. Diplomas will be presented by John deBeck, on behalf of the San Diego Unified School District, and Barbara Sawrey, representing UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox.

James Noraky

Twenty-seven members of the graduating class have been accepted at a UC campus, including 12 who will attend UC San Diego. A total 21 students was accepted by a California State University campus, with 17 choosing San Diego State University.

Among prestigious national universities which have accepted Preuss School students are Duke, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Kettering, Lehigh, Northwest and Stanford, as well as Illinois Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Occidental College, Pitzer College, Pomona College, Wellesley College, Whitman College and Williams College. Other students will head to the U.S. Air Force Academy and the Culinary School of Arts Institute.

The Preuss School  is a middle and high school dedicated to providing an intensive college prep education for motivated low-income students who will become the first in their families to graduate from college. The school is jointly chartered by UC San Diego and the San Diego Unified School District.

Opened in 1999 with 150 students, the school currently has 746 students in grades six through 12th. In its relatively short history, the Preuss School has become known as one of the top schools in the nation, and was named by Newsweek this month among the top 10 high schools in the nation—the only school in California ranked in the top 10.

Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, 858-534-7404 or pjacoby@ucsd.edu