Notre Dame Catholic Schools Class of 2026 Commencement Ceremony will be held Friday, June 12th at 6:00pm at Notre Dame Jr/Sr High School in the Michael J. Walsh Memorial Gymnasium.

The Valedictorian is Isabella Zalocha, daughter of Kelly and Tony Zalocha of Utica, NY. Isabella will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to study Aerospace Engineering.

The Salutatorian is Ella Trinkaus, daughter of Jason and Beth Trinkaus of Marcy, NY.  Ella will be attending St. Bonaventure University to major in Health Sciences while playing Division 1 basketball.

The Notre Dame Catholic Schools Top Ten students for the Class of 2026 are:

Isabella Zalocha, Ella Trinkaus, Nicholas Adorino, Erin Trinkaus, Jenna Herron, Alyssa Capuana, Robert Hickey, Mia Shofany, Kloe Kiersnowski, and Skylar Nicholas

Nichoals Adorino and Isabella Zalocha were named Section III Scholar Athletes for 2026.

This is a prestigious honor, as only one female and one male from each Section III school are nominated. To be considered, students must play two varsity sports in their junior and senior years while maintaining an average of 90% or above.

The Notre Dame Jr/Sr High School Class of 2026 graduates are:

Gianna Acey

Nicholas Adorino

Tessa Arcuri

Griffin Barker

Christopher Brittingham

Michael Cannistra

Alyssa Capuana

Joshua Caruso

Thomas Carville

Noah De Buono

Jeremy Diaz

Cameron Dunn

Lily Elinskas

Alaina Franco

Alexa Galimo

Kaleb Goodman

Kaytee Grabinski

Andrew Guidera

Gracie Guiliano

Elmedin Harris

Jenna Herron

Robert Hickey

James Hopkins

Emma Johnson

Kloe Kiersnowski

Nolan Krzemien

John Leogrande

Leilene Lu

Daniel Marinich

Wolfgang Marketos

Giano Michalak

Kevin Nguyen

Skylar Nicholas

Naw Hosannah Oo

Eva Putrello

Jaslene Sanchez

Moses Shan

Logan Shedd

Mia Shofany

Jayden Skutnik

He Nay Soe

Elizabeth Synakowski

Clyde Taylor III

Tianyi Bruce Teng

Ella Trinkaus

Erin Trinkaus

Jake Weber

Mason Williams

Shea Williams

Scott Yourdon

Isabella Zalocha

Local media representatives are warmly invited to attend the Notre Dame Commencement Ceremony.

Event Details:

• What: Notre Dame Schools Class of 2026 Commencement Ceremony

• When: Friday, June 12, 2026 at 6:00 PM

• Where: Michael J. Walsh Memorial Gymnasium at Notre Dame Jr/Sr High School, 2 Notre Dame Ln. Utica, NY