Clayton grads end year in revelry: Morrow High kicks it off

Mobley Stevenson missed his grandson receiving his Morrow High School diploma and a handshake.

But he arrived at the Georgia Dome in time to watch the first of Clayton County’s graduating classes Friday bask in the glow of hard-won accomplishment, a class that included Jeremy Stevenson.

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Graduation caps fly at the conclusion of the Morrow High School Commencement Exercises in the Georgia Dome, Friday, May 29, 2009.

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“I had to get here,” said Stevenson, of Atlanta. “It was rough. We had to wonder sometimes, but he made it.”

Morrow’s class of 300-plus seniors, clad in green robes, were the first of 2,011 to graduate from eight Clayton County high schools Friday and Saturday at the Dome. Their achievement was a study in perseverance, staying with a school system engulfed in academic, administrative and political turmoil.

Last August the district lost its accreditation. Clayton became the first U.S. school district in 40 years to be stripped of the status, a move that threatened the very value of the seniors’ diplomas.

The school district regained its accreditation earlier this month, though it will remain on two years’ probation by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges. The district has a new superintendent and several new school board members.

Upheaval at Clayton cost the district millions of dollars in state aid for the next school year, 300 teachers were laidoff, and 3,500 students enrolled in other school district.

Students who remained in Clayton, and the parents, grandparents, siblings and friends in the seats, reveled in what class secretary Jasmin Franklin called in her speech “the celebration of a new beginning.”

Larry Fitzpatrick, retired from the Army and living in Columbus, sat in the upper seats watching as his grandson received his diploma. Dijon Pritchett will attend Albany State University in the fall.

“There were some moments there when he made some adjustments. But, that’s because his mother was involved,” Fitzpatrick said.

He said Dijon has a brother who’s a sophomore in high school. “He has brothers, and they look up to him as a role model,” he said.

In the mezzanine, Kirk Smith played with one of his young grandsons while another received his diploma on the stage. Tony Dukes is attending Atlanta Metropolitan College on a full scholarship.

“I’m glad they got the accreditation in,’ said Smith, of Chicago. Dukes earned a 3.9 grade point average at Morrow.

“That’s what I’m most proud about,” Smith said.

Stevenson said his son lived in Clayton for a time before moving to Fulton County. He allowed Jeremy to stay at Morrow and finish there.

“His parents had hope,” Mobley Stevenson said, as the senior class sang their alma mater. “They never gave up.”

HIGH SCHOOLS GRADUATING FRIDAY

Morrow, Mount Zion, Lovejoy

HIGH SCHOOLS GRADUATING SATURDAY