YOUNGSTOWN - Mahoning Valley Community School celebrated the graduation of 62 students in a ceremony at Stambaugh Auditorium Friday morning.

The class of 2025 is among the largest graduating classes in the school's history, superintendent Jennifer Merritt said.

"For our students, this isn't the expectation, this isn't just the next milestone, this is something extraordinary," Merritt remarked. "This is something they have worked so hard to get to. So many things have been put in their way, whether they've had their own children, whether they've experienced homelessness, whether they've experienced expulsion."

Some students at the school say they did not see graduation as a possibility before attending MVCS.

"I started being really hard on myself I thought about giving up all together," graduate J'Kya Stewart told 21 News. "And then we moved here and I switched to this school. It was like a whole new awakening."

Fellow graduate Jayden 'JJ' Wilson said he was determined to overcome similar challenges in pursuit of his high school degree, and that he was proud to accomplish his goal.

"It was hard," Wilson said. "It was draining, but I still kept going. I still kept going."

In addition to celebrating the accomplishments of the class of 2025, the graduation ceremony marks the completion of Mahoning Valley Community School's first academic year at its South Avenue campus.

Merritt tells 21 News the school intends to break ground on its $3 million expansion project within the coming months, spelling an even brighter future for students.

Graduates of MVCS can also depend on continued support from the school. Merritt told 21 News that a handful of MVCS alumni have returned to the school for teaching and staffing positions.

"We do hire students but we also are partnering with local businesses to do workforce training and apprenticeships," the superintendent said.