Maryvale Prep Maintains Perfect Graduation Rate for Third Year Running

Maryvale Preparatory Academy’s Class of 2024 will be the third consecutive class with a graduation rate of 100%. The Great Hearts academy’s accomplishment showcases its position as a top-performing school in the area. In 2022, the inaugural graduating class of 27 seniors set the precedent by all crossing the commencement stage. The following year the trend continued with all 29 seniors of the Class of 2023 receiving their diplomas. Now, as the Class of 2024 prepares for the end of their high school careers, all 30 seniors are set to join the ranks of Maryvale Prep’s accomplished alumni in May.

This accomplishment is particularly remarkable when you consider the location of the school. Maryvale Prep is located on Camelback Road near 51st Avenue in Phoenix, where the local district schools see a low percentage of high school graduates.

“While some might presume that a high school diploma is typical, the normal step in sequence for entering adult hood, the data of our school’s zip code and surrounding Phoenix communities reveal a much lower statistical reality that our students collectively defy,” explained the academy’s college counselor, Georgy Ayala. “According to data from the United States Census Bureau, the median of high school graduates in our area measures low at 33%.”

“We are proud of each student in our student body and their dedication to growing through a challenging curriculum,” said Great Hearts Director of College Counseling Roslyn Fletcher. “We also applaud and recognize the commitment of Maryvale Prep’s faculty and staff in serving and supporting students each day, which empowers students to reach goals during their time at a Great Hearts Academy, and perhaps even more importantly, after graduating. We know that our students have developed a love for learning and will continue to cultivate their hearts and minds through the pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.”

The Class of 2024 includes some notably exceptional students who continue to break barriers and defy limitations in personal, academic, and athletic pursuits.

Senior Rogelio Albiter, who goes by RJ, signed his Letter of Intent to play football at Ottawa University at the academy’s National Signing Day Ceremony. RJ hasplayed since the start of the academy’s football journey, from flag football to tackle football. “My best memory is winning the state championship here at Maryvale Prep,” said RJ. The Matadors played back-to-back CAA State Championship Games and won the State Championship in 2022. “It definitely feels like all the hard work paid off,” he said. Read more about RJ athttps://www.greatheartsamerica.org/maryvale-football-player-scores-a-collegiate-milestone-for-school/.

Senior Julian Vera was excited to learn that he was recognized as a National Hispanic Scholar. The National Hispanic Recognition Program (NRHP) recognizes outstanding Latino and Hispanic high school students who earned high scores on the PSAT, the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test during their junior or sophomore years. After graduation, he will attend Arizona State University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture, with future plans of earning a master’s degree in architecture. Ambitiously, he looks forward to a rewarding career designing and creating beautiful, functional, outdoor commercial spaces. Read more about Vera at https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/maryvale-prep-senior-receives-national-recognition/.

Seniors Nicole Ruiz Betancio and Carol Leon Estrada have demonstrated incredible classroom work ethic as they have illustrated the virtues of responsibility and citizenship, and they are looked to as academic role models by the rest of the student body. Betancio is admitted to the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University to pursuit a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, and Estrada is admitted at Northern Arizona University with ambitious plans of pursuing a bachelor of science in nursing.

“The spirit of our senior class is one of resilience encompassing traits of intelligence, perseverance, kindness, humor, humility, integrity, and endurance. Through the unwavering commitment of parents, guardians, teachers, and coaches, there is no doubt that they are prepared to discover what the world has to offer them,” said Ayala. “I believe they will continue to defy the odds of the area statistics and reach the levels of success they dream of. The pursuit of excellence has been the expected norm during their time at Great Hearts Maryvale. With that, I am confident the class of 2024 has what it takes to successfully embark on their new journey as they set out to accomplish all that they put their minds to.”

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