Catalina Foothills celebrates Class of 2026 accomplishments; district highlights scholarships and honors

The Catalina Foothills Unified School District governing board highlighted achievements by the Class of 2026 during its continuation meeting, presenting aggregate statistics and special recognitions.

Dr. Denise Bartlett told trustees the graduating class of 449 received admissions offers to 180 colleges and universities, including international acceptances, and that 95% of graduates plan to attend a two- or four-year college (up from 92.5% the prior year). The class received an estimated $16.8 million in merit scholarships (an average of more than $37,000 per senior), and the district reported multiple distinguished recognitions including National Merit commended students, AP scholar distinctions, CTE dual-enrollment credits in biotech and engineering, seals of biliteracy across ten languages, and arts and music honors.

The presentation also noted extracurricular accomplishments: 19 seniors signed national letters of intent for athletics; the boys tennis team won the school's 19th Division II state championship (recognized earlier in the meeting); and seniors produced research and community-capacity work including Bio5 research internships and curriculum design for 3D printing instruction in district elementary classrooms.

Board members praised the breadth of student achievement across academics, arts and athletics and said the consolidated end-of-year report will become a regular annual tradition and be included in board materials.