HECS holds late-summer graduation ceremony

      On Aug. 30, while most Long Beach students were out with their parents buying new clothes and supplies for the coming school year, students at the Harriet Eisman Community School, an alternative high school, were receiving their diplomas at a graduation ceremony at the Long Beach Library.

  School director Juli-Anne Sabino said that eight students received scholarships totaling about $10,000, and 30 students in the graduating class will be furthering their education.

  “It was probably the first graduation that I didn’t cry,” said Sabino, who admitted she was close to tears during the emotional ceremony.

  Students performed original music that they wrote and arranged specifically for the event, and a 10-minute, student-produced video yearbook was shown. “These are kids that would have thought they never would have graduated high school,” said Sabino, who added that students often think of the faculty as a second family.

      The high school, on East Park Avenue, is run by Long Beach Reach, and is an alternative for students, ages 15 to 21, who seek a high school diploma. Classes are held in the evening and only a few days a week, giving the school a college-like atmosphere. The school year is divided into three semesters, rather than quarters like a traditional high school. Since classes run into the summer, a graduation is held a few weeks prior to the start of the new school year in September.

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