Student speaker Justin Myrick said on Wednesday that the 18 graduates of the Village School belonged to a historic group that would go on to change the world as they head off to college.
“Today marks the day that the next generation of leaders, thinkers and artists sets off into the real world,” Myrick said.
The 18 students received their diplomas at a commencement ceremony held at E.M. Baker Elementary School, located at 65 Baker Hill Road.
The Village School is the district’s third high school, primarily serving students who struggled academically at Great Neck North or South High School.
Student speaker, BrittAnnie Spuhler, who plans to attend SUNY New Paltz, said attending the Village School helped her personally, as well as academically.
“When I first started attending Village I was my regular shy self,” Spuhler said. “That didn’t last long at all, though. Immediately every student welcomed me. I didn’t feel like such an outcast because everyone here was so different from each other.”
Student speaker Ezra Hyman, who plans to attend Vassar College, said while he was looking forward to the future, it was important to never forget the past.
“Always remember that the past offers guidance for the future,” Hyman said. “The future is a mystery that must be discovered slowly after looking to the past and that the present must never be taken for granted because it is all that we have.”
Great Neck Board of Education President Barbara Berkowitz praised the district’s efforts to maintain the high school, which has a total enrollment of about 50 students.
“There are many in this community who would think that it’s not being cost-effective or fiscally prudent to maintain a school equipped with a full staff that educates approximately 50 students,” Berkowitz said.
“But anyone who comes to this graduation, who listens to the stories of the lives we’ve changed, who understands that one size does not fit all with education, and who understands the need to do every single thing that we can to ensure that each child reaches his or her potential in whichever learning and nurturing environment is the best fit will know why we continue to defend our Village School,” she said.
Great Neck Superintendent of Schools Thomas Dolan credited the graduate’s success to the school’s faculty and staff.
“It is great people that make great schools,” Dolan said.
Jenny Klainberg, president of the school’s parent teacher association, told students to never be afraid to take challenges in life.
“Dare to be abnormal, dare to remove your label and be not one thing, but everything,” Klainberg said. “If you do that you will only have success.”
