As La Jolla Country Day School celebrates its centennial, 108 students in its high school class of 2026 received diplomas May 29 in the Smith Gymnasium on campus.
The ceremony featured remarks from faculty, staff and student Jamie Onaitis, distribution of awards, songs and more.
Jamie received the Trustees’ Award for achieving the highest cumulative grade point average over the past four years at LJCDS. Rehaan Hassan received the Head of School Award for having the second-highest cumulative GPA during that time, and the Faculty Prize went to Ariana Ludwig and Luke Graham, who “through their efforts, character, scholarship and participation in the arts and athletics have best demonstrated the ideals and spirit of La Jolla Country Day School.”
The members of the graduating class received more than 650 college acceptances and will attend 68 colleges and universities across the United States, as well as three students who enrolled at universities abroad, according to LJCDS.
La Jolla Country Day was founded in 1926 as the Balmer School in a one-room cottage in La Jolla with four students and three faculty members. Today, it has a student body of more than 1,100 in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade on a 24-acre campus at 9490 Genesee Ave. ♦