The district is proud to announce seniors Sophia Gregorace as valedictorian and Lauren Basso as salutatorian for the Class of 2020.
With a weighted GPA of 103.08, Sophia has multiple talents, excels academically and is a star athlete. She has challenged herself with an extremely rigorous course load throughout high school, including taking 9 AP classes. She has achieved a lengthy list of honors and awards, including National Merit Commended Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Honor Society, Math Honor Society, TRI-M Music Honor Society, American Chemical Society Award, and George Washington University Medal for Science.
In addition, Sophia is a talented swimmer and has been a member of the Long Island Aquatic Club since she was 5 years old and is a member of their High Performance Team. She dedicates countless hours practicing both before and after school each week and has achieved numerous swimming accolades. This includes being named a U.S. Open Junior National Swimming Qualifier, an accomplishment only 1.24% of swimmers achieve.
While school and swimming take up most of her daily hours, she also finds time to do volunteer work through Swim Across America, Relay for Life, the Carle Place Middle-High School’s Key Club and also does peer tutoring. She also achieved her NYS Lifeguard Certification. In addition, she enjoys playing the violin and expresses her creativity through drawing, painting, sculpture, comics and illustration.
Sophia will be attending Dartmouth College and is currently undecided for her major. Although her interests lie in the areas of science and medicine, she has an innate thirst for knowledge and looks forward to exploring many areas of study on the college level.
With a weighted GPA of 102.6, Lauren is a premier student, shining in academics, extracurriculars and athletics. She has taken 7 AP classes and participated in numerous academic honor societies. These societies include being vice president of the National Honor Society, vice president of the National Spanish Honor Society, president of the Key Club, and a member of the National Math Honor Society and Tri-M Music Honor Society. Other extracurricular activities include being a member of the Med-Tech club, chamber orchestra as a bass player, and manager of the school’s stage crew. Her athletic career consists of being the captain of the varsity gymnastics team, and a member of the varsity soccer and track teams. In addition, she is passionate about studying nursing and has volunteered at NYU Winthrop Hospital and the Long Island Tourette Association. She also participated in the Northwell Health Spark Challenge and the Sports Leadership Conference at Hofstra University.
With this impressive record, she has earned several awards, including the Rensselaer Medal, University of Rochester Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony in Humanities and Social Sciences, Prudential Spirit of Community, Outstanding Academic Achievement, Athletic Achievement, and Scholar Athlete.
Lauren will be attending Fairfield University and intends to major in nursing.
The district congratulates Sophia and Lauren for this achievement and wishes them the very best in their future endeavors.