Some 80% of students in Sonoma Valley High School class of 2025 have received scholarships, awards or other honors this year, thanks partly to their active participation in the application process.
Some 80% of students in Sonoma Valley High School class of 2025 have received scholarships, awards or other honors this year, thanks partly to their active participation in the application process.
“We had a lot of motivated students this year in regard to scholarship applications,” said Lisa Conner, the college and career adviser at Sonoma Valley High School. “Most years, I need to recruit students to apply for free money, but not this year! We had applicants for all of our scholarship opportunities.”
Molly Kiss, principal of the school, said she is not surprised by the increase in scholarship applications.
“Our senior class is hardworking, dedicated and motivated — I think this is exciting!” she said.
The class has 251 seniors and as of April 25, approximately 200 of them will receive scholarships, awards or other honors. The winners will be celebrated at Senior Awards Night on Wednesday, April 23, starting at 6 p.m. at the school’s Pfeiffer Gym.
Many of the students received Doyle Scholarships, which are offered by Santa Rosa Junior College to all seniors who graduate from a Sonoma County High School with a minimum 2.0 grade-point average.
“Every year, the majority of our senior class is eligible for this scholarship,” Conner said.
Students in the class of 2025 has received 60 additional scholarships they applied for, not including the number of scholarships and awards given to them directly by colleges and universities.
“Our scholarships are diverse,” Conner said. “They can be based on student interests, ethnicity, academic merit and financial need, and multiple scholarships are available to all students. I love the fact that our community supports students attending two-year and four-year colleges as well as trade schools. There is a scholarship for everyone!”
She said that the class of 2025 is adventuresome, noting that its students have been accepted at colleges and universities throughout the United States, including Cornell University, Duke University, Swarthmore College, Colorado State University, Dakota State University, University of Michigan, Gettysburg College, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Texas A&M University, Georgetown University and several colleges in Florida as well as at Bournemouth & Poole College in England.
Within California, seniors have been accepted at Stanford University and University of California campuses in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. They have also been accepted at schools such as Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College, University of Southern California, Sonoma State University, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University and Sacramento State University as well as California Polytechnic State University campuses in Humboldt, Pomona and San Luis Obispo.
Conner said that the graduating class at Sonoma Valley High School is very athletic, noting that several students will be competing in collegiate athletics. They include a soccer player at Bournemouth & Poole College, a beach volleyball player at San Jose State University, a swimmer at U.C. Santa Barbara, a softball player at Dakota State University and a football player at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
“The athletic accomplishments our school has had this year have included milestones for many of our sports teams,” Kiss said. “It’s been exciting to see that many of our students will be going on to play at the college level.”
Students will also be attending Santa Rosa Junior College and other community colleges in California as well as vocational schools.
“We have a group of seniors with really diverse interests and passions,” Kiss said. “It has been so cool to see the variety of programs and schools that they’re looking at attending.”
She said that above all, the class of 2025 has brought plenty of spirit and unity to the school.
“We have had incredible accomplishments from multiple sports teams, strong student leadership in our ag program, an active leadership class and lots of student involvement with mock trial and Model UN,” she said. “The amount of support they show to each other for their accomplishments and the amount of spirit we’ve seen at rallies and games — as well as the creativity they’ve brought to our school, like with the new school field day that we’ve now had twice this year — are bringing a lot of excitement and positivity to our campus.”
Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.

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