Hialeah Senior High School Honors Class of 2020

HIALEAH, FL — Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Hialeah Senior High School are honoring the Class of 2020 to coincide with the school's virtual graduation on June 11.

The school is highlighting two students below who represent the achievements of the entire graduating class.

Vanessa Cid

Vanessa has obtained scholarships from the following institutions — Stanford, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins. Vanderbilt, UN Chapel Hill, Notre Dame, Boston College, Washington U at St. Louis, UM, and Miami Dade Honors College.

Eric Forteza

Eric Forteza is a Cuban immigrant who came to the United States at the age of 10 with his mother and brother, forcing him to separate from his father. Eric struggled academically due to the language barrier at first, but is now in the top 1% of his class. He was awarded scholarships from eight universities totaling nearly $2 million, including four Ivy League schools. He opted to accept admission to Harvard.

In an effort to ensure that the Class of 2020 graduates at Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) receive the pomp and circumstance they deserve, the District is holding virtual graduation ceremonies for each high school. The live streaming of each virtual graduation, as well as a schedule of ceremonies and a video archive can be accessed by visiting Classof2020.dadeschools.net. The ceremonies are also televised on WLRN Channel 17.

The virtual commencement ceremonies will be followed by an in-person Class of 2020 celebration at each high school either in the summer or winter, once it is safe to do so under public health guidelines.

In addition to the virtual ceremonies, the District has launched a marketing campaign to highlight outstanding seniors, and invite the community to celebrate graduates on social media using the following hashtags: #MDCPSGrad, #Classof2020, #MeetMDCPSGrads and #SeniorSpotlight.