St. Michael School in Waialua had three high school graduates in 2023. They are, left to right, Thalia DeLima, Jake Alderton and Adelia Benson. (Photo courtesy Dallas Carter)
St. Michael High School in Waialua, an online extension of St. Michael Parish’s elementary school, opened in 2020 as a part of Catholic Virtual, a national, accredited, online-only college-prep program. Last year the school graduated two students from Catholic Virtual.
This year’s three graduates were the first to receive diplomas from St. Michael, which is newly accredited as a diploma-issuing organization. The graduates are Thalia DeLima, Jake Alderton and Adelia Benson.
The North Shore school started its hybrid high school in fall 2020. Coincidentally at that time, many local schools had switched to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While St. Michael has had high school graduates since then, this is the first year their diplomas read as coming from St. Michael itself now that the school is accredited.
High school students can take class on campus and from home as part of the program.