Newark Board of Education salutes its Class of 2022 graduates

Photo Courtesy of Nancy J. Deering

NEWARK, NJ — On June 23, Newark Public Schools hosted graduation ceremonies for more than 2,300 seniors from across 14 district high schools in celebration of the Class of 2022’s remarkable accomplishments.

Family, friends, staff and community members witnessed the achievements of this very special and historic class with 434 seniors achieving a grade-point average of 3.5 or better; 146 earning associate degrees, saving their parents more than $12 million by taking college courses while in high school; and earning more than $77 million in college scholarships.

“The Class of 2022 is making history. Their high school experience was disrupted by a global pandemic, making two of their four years like no other high school experience in history,” Superintendent of Schools Roger León said. “In adversity there is opportunity and our students have excelled at every level along the way. We are confident that all of our lives will be inherently better because of the accomplishments of the Class of 2022.”

During his comments, León thanked the higher education partners who contributed to student success: Essex County College, Rutgers University–Newark, Montclair State University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Seton Hall University, Kean University, Bard College, Bergen County Community College and, the newest partner to our dual enrollment program, Howard University.

“I continue to be impressed with our students,” BOE President Dawn Haynes said. “While they faced adversity, we continued to challenge them with rigorous curriculum offerings and our new FAFSA graduation requirement. They did exactly what we knew would happen. When Newark’s children are challenged, they excel.”

FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.