By the time May rolls around, most seniors are ecstatic to walk across the stage in a cap and gown and move on with their future. Last semester, however, 32 Central seniors graduated, setting a new record for the number of early Central graduates. 

The high number may seem concerning. Did these students have a poor high school experience? 

 Principal Jackie Thornton doesn’t think so. The number itself is not an indicator of discontentment with Central, but rather students pursuing their interests early. 

“If a student [graduates early] because the experiences they’ve had at Naperville Central [were] negative and [they] want to get out of this environment, then yes, that is concerning,” Thornton said. “From my understanding [though], that is not the reasoning for the students that are graduating early.” 

“I think during the COVID-19 Pandemic, students learned that they can, in some cases, learn well outside of the structure of a traditional high school,” Thornton said. “They can accelerate their graduation so that they can move on to the next thing that [matches more] to their interests or learning styles.” 

Thornton said the high early graduation rate may actually be a sign of students making helpful choices during high school that target a career pathway. This career goal has driven students to accelerate the pathway as quickly as possible which may include graduating high school early. 

Central alumni Daniel Melsa, for one, graduated early to join the US marines.  

“I’m just not a big high school [or college] fan,” Melsa said. “It’s the geared education that I want, not a bunch of gen ed classes that I don’t really care for,”

However, some graduated students found Central better geared them toward their postsecondary goals. 

Recent graduate Rylee Bulla said taking health courses and Intro to Health Occupations helped her decide to go into healthcare. 

However, because of a difficult junior year and having already reached the graduation requirements, Bulla decided to graduate early alongside her twin brother.

Bulla’s top choices are Loyola University and University of Urbana-Champaign to pursue a nursing career. 

“I had great support systems like my teachers and [the] team in student services,” Bulla said. “But I felt like I have already dealt with enough and I was ready to move on to a better part of my life.”