Celebrating the Academies at Juan Diego CHS

Courtesy photo/JDCHS

+ Enlarge

The JDCHS Academy of Fine Arts 2022 graduates are shown with their certificates.

DRAPER — Along with the many accolades, awards and honors that accompany their commencement ceremonies, Juan Diego Catholic High School students can include graduation from one of the school’s four Academies in their list of achievements.

JDCHS offers academies of sciences, fine arts, liberal arts and AP capstone. This year, 45 seniors graduated from the academies; several students were enrolled in multiple academies.

The Academies began at Juan Diego with the Academy of Sciences with the Class of 2012. The Academy of Fine Arts followed with the Class of 2018 and the Academy of Liberal Arts with the Class of 2019. AP Capstone was added the same year. Each graduating senior receives an honors cord from their academy, a certificate and a medal bearing the image of the academy’s patron saint.

This year’s graduates were honored at the third annual Academy Honors Night on April 27.

“Tonight, we will honor high-achieving students who have excelled in our rigorous academic environment in conjunction with extracurricular activities and service,” Principal Dr. Galey Colosimo said.

Those attending the event saw video montages highlighting each academy and heard from the directors of each of the academies along with students Sophia Berrocal, Emma Baker and Kai Edem, who shared a portion of their submission essays.

“When we started there were the four independent academies but there wasn’t a cohesion to it,” said Vanessa Jacobs, Juan Diego academies coordinator. “The first honors night (held virtually during the pandemic) began the cohesion of recognizing all of the students together. It allows students to recognize the growth that has happened. The Academy Honors allows us to celebrate the journey of completing the academy requirements; that journey of achievement.”

Academy of Fine Arts candidates must complete at least one Advanced Placement course as well as other specific courses, participate for at least two years in performances and competitions, complete a service project related to their studies and produce a final project.

Academy of Sciences students must complete at least three Advanced Placement courses in STEM subjects, participate in science-related service, and perform independent research at a level worthy of professional publication and enter a project related to that research in local science fairs.

Academy of Liberal Arts graduates must complete a senior service project, take at least four AP classes, and write an original essay. This year’s subject was “Are You an Adult?”

Students begin the AP Capstone Program in their sophomore year with AP Seminar and AP World History; the final step is their AP Research project. Along the way they “cultivate the skills and discipline necessary to conduct independent research in order to produce and defend a scholarly academic thesis,” Jacobs said.