On Friday, June 8, Chase Collegiate School held its 144th Commencement exercises and out of the 45 graduating seniors, three were local residents. Photographed, from left, are Nicole Haghpanah of Newtown, recipient of the Faculty Award given annually to a member of the senior class who displays courage, determination, and contributes fully to the Chase community; Emmett White of Newtown; and Elizabeth Grimes of Sandy Hook, recipient of the Edna R. Crane ’33 Alumnae Award for outstanding service to the school and the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Salmagundi (yearbook). Nicole plans to attend the University of Connecticut in the fall, Emmett plans to attend Roger Williams University, and Elizabeth plans to attend Gettysburg College in the fall.

The spring semester Dean’s List at Bryant University, Smithfield, R.I., includes the following local residents: Faith Mangiafico from Newtown and James Bowers, Matthew Wright, and Shane Wurtz from Sandy Hook.

Jacqueline Ercole of Newtown graduated from Yale University with a master of science in nursing-psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Jackie is a 2009 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Connecticut, having earned a bachelor of arts in psychology and a minor in criminology. After completing her boards, she will be working at Paragon Behavioral Health, as an APRN/nurse practitioner.

Newtowners Joanna Barry, Emily Bronson, Bethany Cologna, and Rachel Fossum, and Sandy Hook residents Holly Conrad, and Carly Doherty were named on Central Connecticut State University’s Dean’s List for the spring semester. To achieve this academic distinction an undergraduate student at CCSU must carry at least 12 academic credits during the semester and earn at least a 3.50 grade point average out of a possible 4.0 scale.

 Emily Elizabeth Korth of Newtown has been named to the President’s List at Clemson University in South Carolina, for its spring semester. Emily is majoring in visual arts at the university.

Southern Connecticut State University recently named its 2012 graduates. From Newtown were Carola Aldrich, Cadence Carroll, Elizabeth Connor, Joseph DeVellis, Jeffrey LaFlamme, David LaMarche, Karla Spencer, Shannon Tredennick, Marina Virgalla, and Jack Zamary. Graduating Sandy Hook residents were Meredith DeSousa, Sarah Dos Santos, Raymond Irrera, and Christina Paradis.

Naugatuck Valley Community College commenced its largest graduating class in its history on Friday, May 25, at the Palace Theater in Waterbury. Newtown residents were Lesley Blume, Hugo Fonseca, Robert G. Raino, Andrew M. Rudolph, Leigh W. Snellback, Bethany A. Tangredi,and Geno J. Villafano; Sandy Hook graduates were Keith M. Baxter, Cynthia Jaroszewski, Denise Lucente, Joshua G. Milas, Kevin P. Spieker II, and Katelyn Vayan.

Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Penn., released its dean’s list for outstanding academic achievement during the spring semester. A student must earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a scale of 4.0 to receive dean’s list recognition. Newtown residents named were Emma K. Fiore and Kristen K. Tanner.

Allen Hubbard of Newtown and Gabrielle Milano of Sandy Hook, were named to the spring Dean’s List at Saint Michael’s College, Burlington, Vt.

Newtown residents Michael Ryan Iorfino and Megan Ashleigh Addessi were among the 65 students honored by the University of Scranton (Penn.) during its undergraduate Class Night ceremony. The Jesuit university awarded outstanding members of the Class of 2012 for academic achievement and service. Michael was the recipient of the J. Harold Brislin Memorial Award for Excellence in Journalism and he earned a bachelor of arts degree in communication. Michael plans to pursue employment as a print journalist at the Scranton Times-Tribune newspaper. Megan received the Excellence in Management and Excellence in Operations Management awards and earned a bachelor of science degree, summa cum laude, with a double major in management and operational management. Megan plans to pursue her master’s in business administration at the university in the fall and is employed at the Foley Law Firm in Scranton.

William Northrop of Sandy Hook and Hannah Tenenbaum of Newtown were named to the Dean’s Honor List at Gettysburg (Penn.) College for outstanding academic achievement in the spring semester.

The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, recently announced that 4,042 undergraduates qualified for its spring Dean’s List. To be included, students must have completed 12 or more credits during a semester for letter grades with at least a 3.30 quality point average. Part-time students qualify with the accumulation of 12 credits with a 3.30 quality point average. Dylan Grae Abrams and Brenna Lynn Calderara, both of Newtown, were named on the list.

Thaddeus Adams of Newtown was awarded a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering at the 144th Commencement exercises at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass., on May 12.