(The following information was submitted by Catholic high schools in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.)
Washington, D.C Catholic high schools
Archbishop Carroll High School
(Sponsored by The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington)
Number of graduates in class of 2022: 80 young women and men
Graduation ceremony: May 26 at at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Graduation speaker: Richard Dyer, a member of Archbishop Carroll’s class of 1978 who serves as the general manager of WUSA-TV Channel 9.
Baccalaureate Mass: May 25 at the National Shrine’s Crypt Church, celebrated by Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory
Valedictorian: Ester Ventura
Salutatorian: Victoria Ruiz
Accomplishments of class of 2022: Graduates received 481 college acceptances (100 percent college acceptance rate) and more than $9 million in scholarships. Archbishop Carroll celebrated its first graduating class from its Jim Vance Media Program, and 77 percent of Carroll’s engineering program seniors are pursuing STEM majors
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School
(Sponsored by the Visitation Sisters)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 130 young women
Graduation ceremony: June 7 at Georgetown Visitation
Graduation speaker: Sister Mary Bader, a 1978 graduate of Georgetown Visitation and a Daughter of Charity who serves as the CEO of St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families in Hyattsville, Maryland
Baccalaureate Mass: June 6 at Visitation, celebrated by Father Patrick Kifolo, OSFS
Valedictorian and salutatorian of class of 2022: Visitation does not name a valedictorian and salutatorian. The class chooses a speaker for graduation. This year, the speaker will be Class President Joella Kiondo. In addition, one student will receive the General Medal of Excellence for having the highest G.P.A. in the class.
Gonzaga College High School
(Sponsored by the Society of Jesus)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 229 young men
Date of graduation: June 5 at St. Aloysius Church, Washington, D.C. (Ticketed event, not open to the public)
Graduation speaker: Jesuit Father James Conn, professor emeritus of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and superior of the Casa Santa Maria, the residence for post graduate student-priests of Rome’s Pontifical North American College. Father Conn began is teaching career in 1971 at Gonzaga and is in his 51st year as a Latin teacher.
Baccalaureate Mass: June 4 at St. Aloysius Church, The celebrant will be Jesuit Father Joseph E. Lingan, a 1975 Gonzaga graduate who now serves as the school’s president.
Valedictorian of class of 2022: Tyler E. Kaczmarek
Salutatorian of class of 2022: Antonio G. Dolojan
Special accomplishments of class of 2022: Five National Merit Hispanic Recognition Scholars, five National Merit African American Recognition Scholars, and 15 National Merit Commended Scholars. This school year, Gonzaga College High School celebrated the 200th anniversary of its founding in 1821.
St. Anselm’s Abbey School
(Sponsored by the Order of St. Benedict)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 47 young men
Date of graduation: June 4 at St. Anselm’s Abbey Theater and gymnasium
Graduation speaker: Dr. Aaron Dominguez, Provost and ordinary professor of physics at The Catholic University of America
Baccalaureate Mass: May 29 at St. Anselm’s Abbey Chapel. The celebrant will be Abbot James Wiseman, OSB.
St. John’s College High School
(Sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 283 young women and men
Date of graduation: June 3 at the Basilica of the National Shrine.
Graduation speaker: Msgr. John Enzler, a member of St. John’s class of 1965 who serves as the president and CEO of Catholic Charities of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, will speak at the graduation as the celebrant and homilist of the Baccalaureate Mass
Valedictorian of class of 2022: Olivia Baptiste
Salutatorian of class of 2022: Nagomi Myers
Special accomplishments of class of 2022: More than $35 million in scholarships
Maryland Catholic high schools in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
The Academy of the Holy Cross
(Sponsored by Holy Cross Sisters in Kensington)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 104 young women
Date of graduation: June 6 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Graduation speaker: Francesca Pellegrino, president and founder of the Catholic Coalition for Special Education
Baccalaureate Mass: June 5 at Holy Redeemer Church, Kensington
Valedictorian of class of 2022: Adrianna Melina Monzon-Osorio
Salutatorian of class of 2022: Anna Marie Avila
Special accomplishments of class of 2022: The Academy of the Holy Cross’s class of 2022 has taken a very active role in numerous social justice activities including cultural heritage education, supporting refugees in Ukraine, service to numerous local organizations, and efforts supporting women in crisis.
Bishop McNamara High School
(Sponsored by the Brothers of the Holy Cross in Forestville)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 213 students, including 111 young women and 102 young men
Date of graduation: May 27 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Baccalaureate Mass: May 26 at Mount Calvary Catholic Church, celebrated by the pastor there, Father Robert Boxie III
Valedictorian of class of 2022: Justin Malloy
Salutatorian of class of 2022: Tiffany Obina
Special accomplishments of class of 2022: The students in Bishop McNamara High School’s class of 2022 contributed more than 18,000 hours of Christian service and earned more than $21 million in merit-based scholarships. In that class, 77 percent of all seniors are graduating with a GPA of 3.0 or above, and 47 percent of all seniors are enrolled in one or more Advanced Placement courses.
Connelly School of the Holy Child
(Sponsored by the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in Potomac)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 69 young women
Date of graduation: June 3 at Connelly School of the Holy Child
Student graduation speaker: Speech will be given by class president Cameryn Lea.
Baccalaureate Mass: June 2 at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Potomac, celebrated by Msgr. Charles Antonicelli, the pastor there
DeMatha Catholic High School
(Sponsored by the Order of the Most Holy Trinity in Hyattsville)
Number of graduates: 165 young men
Date of graduation: June 3 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Student speakers at graduation: Welcome by Therman Hawkins III and farewell by Luke Kelly
Baccalaureate Mass: June 1 at DeMatha Catholic High School, celebrated by Trinitarian Father James Day, the school’s president
Special accomplishments of the class of 2022: The senior year of DeMatha’s class of 2022 coincided with the school’s 75th anniversary year
Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School
(Sponsored in Takoma Park by The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and the Salesians of Don Bosco)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 106 graduates, including 55 young women and 51 young men
Date of graduation: June 2 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Graduation speaker: Ada Gonzalez, a member of Don Bosco Cristo Rey’s class of 2018
Baccalaureate Mass: June 1 at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Takoma Park, celebrated by Cardinal Gregory
Valedictorian of class of 2022 – Jacqueline Alvarez
Salutatorian of class of 2022 – Diana Andrade
Special accomplishments of class of 2022: Don Bosco Cristo Rey’s class of 2022 had a 100 percent college acceptance rate, and 52 percent of the seniors are graduating with honors.
Elizabeth Seton High School
(Sponsored in Bladensburg by the Daughters of Charity)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 166 young women
Date of graduation: May 31 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Baccalaureate Mass: May 31 at the Mahler Center for the Performing Arts at Elizabeth Seton High School, celebrated by Msgr. Ray East, the pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Washington and a nationally known Catholic evangelist and speaker
Special accomplishments of class of 2022: The class of 2022 at Elizabeth Seton High School earned nearly $19 million dollars in scholarships. Members of that class will be attending Johns Hopkins University, Howard University, Spelman College, and Stanford University. One of the seniors earned a spot in Florida A&M University’s famous marching band. Other members of Seton’s class of 2022 interested in the arts are enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Cooper Union, and some of Seton’s graduating seniors interested in the engineering, computer science and health care fields are enrolled at Purdue, Virginia Tech and George Washington University.
Georgetown Preparatory School
(Sponsored by the Society of Jesus in North Bethesda)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 120 young men
Date of graduation: May 21 at Georgetown Preparatory School
Graduation speaker: Alejandro Rojas, class of 2022, spoke at commencement, nominated by his class peers and selected by a faculty and student panel.
Baccalaureate Mass: May 20 at Georgetown Prep’s Boland Arena in the Hanley Center, celebrated by Jesuit Father James R. Van Dyke, president of Georgetown Prep
Georgetown Prep names a recipient of the Williams Medal. Richard Francis Williams ranked first in the Graduating Class of 1962 at Georgetown Preparatory School, and after his premature death in 1966 a medal was established in his memory to be awarded annually to the student with the highest academic average in his senior year. This year, the Williams Medal goes to Weicheng (Wilson) Kan.
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School
(Sponsored in Olney by the Xaverian Brothers)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 317 young women and men
Date of graduation: Baccalaureate Mass and Graduation on May 26 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The presider at the Mass was Father Thomas Lavin, OFM Conv.
Graduation speaker: The top 10 graduating seniors are invited to prepare and present a five-minute commencement address to a panel of faculty and staff. Aaron Siegel was selected to be the class speaker.
Special accomplishments of class of 2022: Our Lady of Good Counsel’s class of 2022 received nearly $40 million in scholarships, the most a graduating class from the school has ever been offered.
St. Mary’s Ryken High School
(Sponsored in Leonardtown by the Xaverian Brothers)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 134 students, including 65 young women and 69 young men.
Date of graduation: May 31 on St. Mary’s Ryken campus at the Donnie Williams Center
Baccalaureate Mass: Celebrated on May 22 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in La Plata, Maryland by Father Jack Berard
Valedictorian and salutatorian of class of 2022: St. Mary’s Ryken does not have a valedictorian or salutatorian. Instead, the school has an Xaverian Orator and Class Speaker.
Elise Cecil of the class of 2022 at St. Mary’s Ryken is the Xaverian Orator and will speak during the school’s Baccalaureate Mass. The Xaverian Orator is presented to the student with the top cumulative GPA over their four years at SMR.
Nina Ferrero, chosen by faculty and staff, will speak on behalf of St. Mary’s Ryken’s class of 2022 at the school’s 41st commencement ceremony. Ferrero is a St. Mary’s Ryken Biomedical Science Pathway member. In addition, she is a Presidential and Leadership Scholarship Recipient. She became the president of her sophomore class; served as vice president of Student Council during her junior and senior years, as president of Knights for Life, and she was the president of the National Honor Society. Ferrero is a member of the Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School Stewards, has earned over 200 hours in service to the community and led several student retreats. In addition, Ferrero was the cross country captain and ran track. She also participated in the St. Mary’s Ryken spring musicals and was recognized as a Distinguished Young Woman of Charles County.
Special accomplishments of class of 2022: The class of 2022 at St. Mary’s Ryken High School earned scholarships offers totaling over $21 million and completed 18,620 service hours, 54 percent over the requirement. The class also included four National Merit Commended Scholars and 15 AP Scholars, and 26 student-athletes signed to continue to play their sport at the college level.
St. Vincent Pallotti High School
(Sponsored in Laurel by the Pallottine Missionary Sisters)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 86 young women and men
Date of graduation: May 25 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The graduation ceremonies began that day with a Baccalaureate Mass celebrated by Father Larry Young, the pastor of St. Mary of the Mills Parish in Laurel.
Valedictorian of the class of 2022: Ademide Adeyemo
Salutatorian of the class of 2022: Alexandria Horne
St. Vincent Pallotti High School marked the 100th anniversary of its 1921 founding during the 2021-22 school year.
Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart
(Sponsored in Bethesda by the Religious of the Sacred Heart)
Number of graduates in the class of 2022: 95
Date of graduation: June 9 at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart on the Hamilton House lawn
Graduation speaker: José Andrés, the father of Stone Ridge alumnae Carlota of the class of 2017, Ines of the class of 2019 and graduate Lucia of the class of 2022. Andrés is a Spanish chef, and founder of World Central Kitchen, a non-profit that is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. He is often credited with bringing the small plates dining concept to America. He owns restaurants in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, South Beach, Florida, Orlando, Chicago, and New York City.
Baccalaureate Mass: Stone Ridge will have a Fourth Academic Mother Daughter Liturgy on June 6 in the school’s Athletic Center
