PITTSBORO — At last week’s Chatham County Schools Board of Education meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 10, Superintendent Dr. Anthony Jackson presented statistics on the graduating class of 2023.
“We just wanted to make sure that we celebrated the accomplishments of this most recent class,” Superintendent Jackson said during the meeting.
The first statistic shared by Superintendent Jackson was that “the class of 2023 received over $32 million in scholarships.” He said students from the AVID programs received a large portion of that scholarship money.
Additionally, some of this scholarship money comes from Chatham County students receiving full-ride scholarships to UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Asheville, Wake Forest, Elon and Appalachian State, in addition to many other scholarships, according to Superintendent Jackson’s presentation.
In addition to receiving scholarships, 75% (530) of graduating students were accepted to college, either to two- or four-year universities, and 18% (127) acquired full-time employment upon graduation based on self reportings, he said.
There are also 18 graduates who will be serving in the military, he said. Five will be joining the Marines, two will be enlsiting in the Navy, 10 serving in the Army, while one is undecided, according to the presentation.
Another statistic shared by Superintendent Jackson was that all seniors who were a part of the Evening Academy at SAGE Academy — students who needed to makeup credits to graduate — completed the program successfully. SAGE Academy becomes ONE Academy at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.
The end of the presentation compiled parts of commencement speeches from Chatham County high schools graduates.
“Graduating isn’t anything easy … “ Savannah Matthews, Northwood High School class of 2023 graduate said. “All of our hard work has paid off, and we can take a sigh of relief knowing that we have finally completed a big step in our lives.”
Superintendent Jackson finished the presentation by thanking the board of education on the graduates’ behalf and other acknowledgments.
“I want to thank our community for continuing to lift up our students,” Superintendent Jackson said. “And holding us accountable for doing what's right for them every single day.”