Congratulations, graduates! Metro Atlanta families recently gathered to celebrate the graduating class of 2026. Here are the top students honored as valedictorians and salutatorians for local public and private schools in Rough Draft’s coverage area. 

Atlanta Public Schools

Atlanta Classical Academy
Adelaide Huffman (V)
Aleck Carter (S) 

Drew Charter School
(V) Lucinda Peterson
(S) Jordyn Jennings

Benjamin E. Mays High School
(V) Bethany Momon
(S) Justin Allen 

BEST Academy
(V) MyKel Smith
(S) Mariyo Majette 

Booker T. Washington High School
(V) Joseph Rosser III
(S) Kai Edwards

Carver Early College
(V)Ayanna Thomas-Scott
(S)Arianna Hollins

Carver STEAM
(V) Gabriel Olagbegi
(S) Shamyra Burden

Coretta Scott King YWLA
(V) Keirstyn Smith
(S) Sacarria Burts

D.M. Therrell High School
(V) Parker Gonzalez
(S) Robert Carter

Frederick Douglass High School
(V) Nevaeh Robinson
(S) Grace Jones

KIPP Atlanta Collegiate
(V) Brooke Smith
(S) Zemirah Skinner

Maynard Jackson High School
(V) Regan Saffel
(S) Audrey Craighead

Midtown High School
(V) Brennan Fritts
(S) Eric Snell

North Atlanta High School
(V) Claire Collins
(S) Arjun Mitra

South Atlanta High School
(V) Kayla Mathews-Smith
(S) Laniya Collins

Fulton County Schools

North Springs High School
(V) Peyton Frank 
(S) Grace Lumpkins 

Riverwood International Charter School
(V) Alexander Royal 
(S) Mylie Henssge 

DeKalb County Schools

Druid Hills High School 
(V) Stephen Marshall
(S) Sudipta Rudra

Decatur High School
(V) Neve Marston 
(S) Liora Yustein

Chamblee High School (Magnet)
(V) Plamena Alexandrova
(S) Shreya Sehgal

Chamblee High School (Resident)
(V) Quynh Nguyen
(S) Kathleen Mattison

Cross Keys High School
(V) Nafisha Karim
(S).Samira Yasmin

Dunwoody High School
(V) Faith Lanham 
(S) Jacob Miller 

Tapestry Public Charter School
(V) Benjamin Radford
(S) Cesar Alex Salazar

Tucker High School
(V) Akosua Baah
(S) Jaenelle Milice and Shaila Thomas

Private Schools

Atlanta International School 
(V) Catherine Hasell
(S) Emma Katsitadze

Ben Franklin Academy
(V) Eli Jutan
(S) Devin May

Greater Atlanta Christian School
(V) Noah An
(S) Madeline Austin

Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School
(V) Gavin Mark Miles
(S) Thomas Douglas “Nick” McKay III 

Holy Spirit Preparatory School
(V) Edward Gage Druham
(S) Lauren Wilhelm

The Lovett School
(V) Robert Wynne
(S) Ellie Ziglar

Marist School
(V) Ava Marsh
(S) Hunter Nguyen

Mount Vernon Presbyterian School 
(V) Cameron Bogdanchik 
(S) Christian D. Foster

Pace Academy
(V) Leena Phoenix
(S) David Halsey

St. Pius X
(V) Julianna Esper
(S) Cate Chandler

The Weber School 
(V) Scott Silverman
(S) Adrianna Castiglione

Wesleyan School
(V) Brendan Wright
(S) Cole Creel

The Westminster School 
(V) Samanyu Ganesh
(S) Max Scholle

Whitefield Academy
(V) Robert Wynne
(S) Ellie Ziglar

Woodward Academy
(V) Carson Connors, Reagan Gary, and Robert Tharp Jr.
(S) Elliana Hartman

Gwinnett Schools

Norcross High School
(V) Joanne Lu
(S) Eva A. Ballerstedt

Wesleyan School
(V) Brendan Wright
(S) Cole Creel

This report was compiled and written by Rough Draft Atlanta's staff.