On January 8, 2026, ACC held its annual Alumni Day Celebration, sponsored by the College and Career Committee. Around 75 former students attended this special event, notably the last one ever held in this building. Next year, we will be in the Grace Hopper Center, and all of our traditions and events will move on with us.
As people arrived, a slideshow of pictures played on the projector in the Commons. It contained older images of former students, as well as pictures of them now. There was also a delicious ice cream bar, catered by our talented culinary class. As alumni arrived and found seats, you could see the faces light up, arms wrap around each other, and hear laughs all around.
To start off the opening presentation, Mr. Derocco, Ms. Chung, and Ms. Monica gave short speeches to everyone in attendance. Ms. Chung began by saying, “Welcome home. Yes, this is our home. It’s like seeing our kids come back.” Smiles spread across the room, and it felt like everything got a little bit warmer and fuzzier.
To kick off the celebration, they started with an activity to reconnect students and learn more about each other after their time at ACC concluded. Students shared experiences about their current lives and answered questions like “What are you currently doing with your life?” or “What is one opportunity you took in high school that impacted your life?” Students were encouraged to walk around and talk with unfamiliar faces to learn new stories and gain new experiences. They also filled out a Google form to advise future students about CTE and DE courses, PBL, and Senior Capstones.
Several alumni spoke about some of their impressive accomplishments. For example, Werner Perez, who graduated from the ELI program, started his own contracting business and displayed several jobs he had completed in his time working in that field. Seb Duall, a Tech graduate from the Class of 2021, graduated from VCU in 2025 with a degree in film and spoke about his current industry pursuits. Adriana Sparks, Class of 2023, is studying engineering at Columbia University. Jy’Den-Myles Richardson of the Class of 2024 is studying International Business and Real Estate at Baruch College.
Mr. DeRocco gushed over the success of the event: “It went great! I think we had a great event. We had students all the way back to the graduating year of 2020. A good time was had by the alumni, and we look forward to doing it again in the new building.”
After lots of reminiscing, the former students took a group photo before taking time to re-explore the school and visit old teachers and classrooms. As they revisited all of their favorite (and least favorite) memories from high school, teachers welcomed these former students back into their classrooms as if no time had passed.
It is truly beautiful to see how connections like these remain strong. Although many may think that distance may cause people to drift apart, learning and creating memories bond people together and create true, lasting connections
