Principal Lisa Nemeth said 86 percent of the graduates will go on to college.
LUDLOW - Interim School Superintendent Donna Hogan Thursday wished the 213 graduates of Ludlow High School happiness, more than success.
“Success is not the key to happiness,” Hogan told the graduates.
She added, “Happiness is the key to success.”
Hogan concluded, “Thank you for sharing your senior year with me. It has been a gift.”
Hogan, who retired as principal of Baird Middle School, stepped in mid-year as interim superintendent after the acting superintendent became ill.
A new superintendent is set to take over July 1.
Hogan said she knows many of the graduates personally since she was principal of Baird Middle School when they were in eighth grade.
Hogan said she hopes that Lisa Nemeth, the new principal of Ludlow High School, and Todd Gazda, who will take over as superintendent in July, give many years of service to the Ludlow public schools.
Nemeth told the graduates, “You are my first graduating class. It has been an honor and a privilege to be your principal.”
Class valedictorian was Kaila Grenier. Class salutatorian was Emily Assarian. Class president was Christopher Scagliarini.
Grenier will attend the University of Virginia in the fall where she plans to major in biomedical engineering.
Assarian will attend the Commonwealth Honors College at UMass, Amherst and plans to major in microbiology.
Ludlow High School students this year were accepted at 50 colleges, Nemeth said, including Amherst College, George Washington University, Boston University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Berklee College of Music in Boston, University of Virginia, University of Vermont and Providence College, among others.
Nemeth said 86 percent of the graduates have plans to go on to college.