Thursday, October 1, 2026
Nicole LePetri of Rockville Centre gave the Valedictory Address at Kellenberg Memorial High School on June 3. She graduated 5th in her class, with a 97.5 average. The school’s faculty awarded her the Kellenberg Memorial Award for Most Outstanding Female Graduate, and she was voted the Most Likely Girl to Succeed by her classmates. Along with fellow senior and Rockville Centre resident Taylor Hayes, she served as co-captain of the Kellenberg Girls Lacrosse team this past spring. She was an All-Catholic League Shot-Putter for the winter track season. She was offered academic scholarships by Fordham, Loyola, Molloy, Stonehill, Villanova and Providence, and accepted a spot in her dream school, Georgetown University. She also received a Nassau County Women’s Club Scholarship.
Beyond sports and academics, Nicole has given back to the community and her school. She taught religion at St. Christopher’s in Baldwin, attended dances at local nursing homes, served as a Eucharistic Minister and spent her senior year as a 6th grade mentor.
Her father, Rich LePetri, wrote that after reading an issue of the Herald full of concern about the direction of the community’s 18-year-olds, he is proud of the positive accomplishments and contributions of his daughter. While she graduated from Kellenberg, she got her start in Rockville Centre, at United Church’s Nursery School and then at St. Agnes Cathedral School.
Along with many other great kids, she played for the Rockville Centre Soccer Club, Rockville Centre Lacrosse Club and the St. Agnes CYO. She is one of many outstanding seniors from Rockville Centre who graduated from South Side High School, Sacred Heart Academy, Kellenberg, Holy Trinity and Oceanside High School who accomplished much and contributed as much to their community, families and schools. LePetri said that space obviously prohibits him from listing them all, but each of them is just as worthy of the community’s pride.
