The Pennington School awarded diplomas to 115 seniors during its 185th Commencement Exercises on May 30, celebrating a graduating class that spans six states and five countries while honoring students for achievements in academics, athletics, leadership and service.
Head of School William S. Hawkey conferred diplomas on members of the Class of 2026 during commencement ceremonies held on the school’s campus. The commencement address was delivered by Dr. Lisa C. Espinoza, a member of The Pennington School Board of Trustees and founder of LaChele Medical Aesthetics.
Princeton residents Yanxin Wu and Zara Meehan-Ritter were named valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively. Wu received the Dr. E.F. Hann Memorial Award for Excellence in World Languages in Latin, earned a Global Studies Certificate and was recognized with a Gateway Prize honoring students who exemplify Pennington’s core values of honor, virtue and humility. Meehan-Ritter received the Dr. Ralph Appleton Memorial Award for Excellence in History and Social Studies and The Pennington School Award for Distinguished Achievement in Applied Science. Both students were previously inducted into Pennington’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society.
A senior awards ceremony held the evening before commencement recognized dozens of students for accomplishments across a wide range of disciplines. Among the top honors, Brett Sirolly received the Head of School Prize for Best All-Around Student, Sofia Kulp earned the Outstanding Citizenship Award, and Ishaan Khetarpal, James Lay and Norah Youngblood were recognized with the Community Life Award.
Several local students also earned major distinctions. Katherine Dwyer received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Sara Chrnelich and Geneviève Vallières shared the Brigid Kilfoyle ’91 Memorial Award recognizing the senior female athletes who made the greatest contribution to Pennington athletics, while Finn Garner and Dylan Napoleon shared the William E. Long Award recognizing the senior male athletes who made the greatest contribution to school athletics.
Members of the Class of 2026 will attend colleges and universities including Princeton University, Georgetown University, the University of Virginia, Carnegie Mellon University, Lehigh University, Boston University, New York University, Villanova University, Penn State University, Wake Forest University and the United States Military Academy, among many others.
Class of 2026 Graduates
New Jersey
Belle Mead: Jordan Murray
Bordentown: Emma Goodrich
Burlington: Janelle Owusu
Columbus: Colin Harkleroad, Ami Ly, Kerri Moran
Cranbury: Cynthia Graham, Beyla Shah
Crosswicks: Mariah Lynch
East Brunswick: Ishaan Khetarpal
Ewing: Robert Connor
Flemington: Caiden O’Connell
Haddonfield: Norah Mehta
Hillsborough: Louise Bourgoin
Hopewell: Lola Burd
Jersey City: Lina Cortés
Lambertville: Seth Hoyer
Lawrenceville: Emily Birkenstock, Kyle Harvey
Maplewood: Sebastian Calderon Chubb
North Brunswick: Esther Aboagye
Pennington: Evangelina Argiropoulos, Sara Chrnelich, Eleanora Close, Katherine Dwyer, Shubh Gangrade, Finn Garner, Alexander Giller, Arthur Gray, Andrew Hofacker, Allison Howe, Seamus Manning, Logan Matthews, Leonardo Momo, Samik Mookherjee, Rishabh Ramaswamy, Brett Sirolly, Julia Sperry-Fernandez, Ciaran Walsh and George Ward Jr.
Princeton: Henry Armstrong, Saniya Bhanote, Saskia Cooper, Grace Craig, Olivia Craig, Aiyan Doshi, Raquel Frankel, Natalie Maschler, Zara Meehan-Ritter, Sanjana Ramalingam, Kendall Sands, Geneviève Vallières, Becket Washburn and Yanxin Wu
Princeton Junction: Jonathan Partridge
Red Bank: Sarah Dzwonkowski
Ringoes: Angelyn Li
Robbinsville: Amanda Cordone, Thomas Surtz
Skillman: Cecelia Embleton, Eliana Lewis, Madeline Mandzij
South Orange: Caroline Hendrickson
Stockton: Connor Tirendi
Titusville: Lolita Nechay, Norah Youngblood
Trenton: Gianni Manning, Dylan Napoleon
West Windsor: Emma Normand
Pennsylvania
Bensalem: Ava Brochon
Doylestown: Amelia Buck
Huntingdon Valley: Sofia Kulp
Langhorne: Samuel Heaton, Logan Henry, Brianna Turner
Long Pond: Michael Miller
Morrisville: Anthony Cartusciello
New Hope: Tait Brown, Dimitri Espinoza, Hayden Malmros, Emery Miller, Kian Phillips, Malea Reilly, Ella Sichel and Zoey Webster
Newtown: James Bradley, Sydney Epstein, Elizabeth Holstein, Braeden Leeds, Zoya Mehra, Brooke Miller and Nicholas Tuzza
Philadelphia: Bryce Werner
Washington Crossing: Alexandra Van Arsdale
Yardley: Karys Elmore, Olivia Lee, Logan Oster, Catherine Vincent and Nishka Vyas
New York
New Paltz: Monte Huffman
New York City: Alexander Loh
Queensbury: Nisaiah Maldonado
Massachusetts
Southborough: Cheng Xu
Florida
Venice: Bryce Williams
Golden Beach: Elle Gerstman
Texas
West Lake Hills: James Lay
International Students
Beijing, China: Qiyuan Li, Shuhe Tie
Chengdu, China: Chenyu Chou
Shanghai, China: Xinglin Yi, Yitong Zhang
Espoo, Finland: Anna-Kaisa Hokkanen
Hong Kong: Kai Itakura-Prepscius
Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia: Sean Chandrasaputra
Busan, South Korea: Jiwoo Kim
