Published on May 31, 2026 at 1:47 pm
Faiza Alnour traveled too far to let tiredness thwart her from achieving her educational dream.
Alnour graduated from Englewood High School with a 3.9 GPA on Thursday. She was born in Sudan and spent time in Egypt before moving to the U.S. shortly before high school.
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“It’s exciting because I waited for too long. I worked hard,” Alnour said.
More than 30 family members and extended family members celebrated Alnour’s achievement outside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 28.
The month of May was a culmination for many students, parents, caregivers and the wider village of people who support and champion local students.
More than 7,000 students earned their diploma from a Duval County Public School this May. Their path to the stage is diverse.
They include the stories of the 408 students who graduated from Englewood Thursday morning inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Englewood, in a Southside neighborhood at the forefront of the city’s demographic shift into a minority-majority community, has historically had one of the district’s highest rates of chronic absenteeism, and district data indicate 52% of its students are economically disadvantaged. Nevertheless, Englewood Principal Marleny Chirino said from the stage Thursday that nearly 100% of the class of 2026 earned diplomas.
Englewood’s 69th graduating class collectively earned more than $5 million in scholarships to continue their education. Nearly 120 of them earned the district’s Seal of Biliteracy. More than 90 were members of the National Honor Society. Three students earned their associate’s degrees in advanced manufacturing at the same time as their diplomas.
For many, getting to graduation was an accomplishment. One graduate lived in her car for part of the year after her father died; another was displaced by war in their homeland before immigrating to Jacksonville.
No two stories were the same.
“It feels amazing. I never thought I would make it this far. I thought I would fail,” Jance Acevedo said.
Acevedo said he had doubts during his high school years, but he adjusted his priorities as graduation neared and earned A’s and B’s during his senior year.
“It took a lot of discipline, respect and courage. I thank my family for their support,” he said after the ceremony alongside his mother Kenia Cartagena and father Felix Orlando. “Without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
Cartagena wiped beads of sweat from her son’s face on the sweltering afternoon as they stood near magnolia trees taking portraits from the moment.
A few feet away, Daniela Covarrubias orchestrated portraits for her family.
“Finally, he did it!” Daniela said of her first-born child. “He didn’t give up like I thought he would at one point. He wanted to. He didn’t. I’m very proud of that. We got him to this point.”
Juan Covarrubias III says he felt compelled to keep going to high school so he would “be able to do something” in life. Thursday was a pinnacle.
“It’s a lot of emotions at once because you’re reminded you won’t see a lot of people anymore,” Covarrubias says. “You’re done with school. You can’t also help but to feel happy.”
Juanito, as his family calls him, is the oldest of Daniela and Juan’s four children. He was born when Danielle was 16. They are a Mexican-American family who moved to Jacksonville from Michigan in 2020.
Daniela says Englewood provided an example for her son to be introduced to different cultures, different upbringings and different viewpoints.
District data indicate 42% of Englewood’s students are Latino, 29% are Black, 17% are white and 11% are other races.
Englewood has students from 50 countries. Its student body speaks 25 languages or dialects. Many graduates decorated their caps in celebration of Colombian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Jamaican, Venezuelan, Honduran, Haitian or Sudanese heritage.
Mawadda Khedir says she adorned the Sudanese flag on her cap to represent her culture. Khedir is a member of the National Honor Society who graduated with a 3.9 GPA.
“I’m happy all the work paid off,” Khedir says. “It was trial and error. I’m really grateful for my parents and all the hard work they went through just to get me to where I am.”
Alnour earned the Seal of Biliteracy because she is fluent in Arabic and English.
Another student decorated her cap with gold letters on top of pink glitter. The Spanish translated to “For the smiles of my parents who arrived with nothing and gave me everything.”
