Texas Border Business
MERCEDES – High school graduation ceremonies for South Texas Independent School District (STISD) begin on Monday, May 18 and run through Friday, May 22.
Four of the graduation ceremonies will take place May 18-21 at the Bert Ogden Arena, located at 4900 S I-69 C in Edinburg. The following are the dates and times for those ceremonies:
| STISD Science Academy (Mercedes): Monday, May 18, at 6:30 p.m. |
| STISD Medical Professions (Olmito): Tuesday, May 19, at 6:30 p.m. |
| STISD Health Professions (Mercedes): Wednesday, May 20, at 6:30 p.m. |
| STISD World Scholars (Edinburg): Thursday, May 21, at 6:30 p.m. |
| Virtual Academy’s graduation will be held on Friday, May 22, at 6:30 p.m., at Localé, located at 505 W. U.S. Hwy. 83, Weslaco. |
STISD also proudly announces the 2026 valedictorians and salutatorians for the district’s high schools, including South Texas ISD Health Professions (Health Professions) in Mercedes; South Texas ISD Medical Professions (Medical Professions) in Olmito; South Texas ISD Science Academy (Science Academy) in Mercedes; South Texas ISD Virtual Academy (Virtual Academy), the district’s all-virtual middle and high school; and South Texas ISD World Scholars (World Scholars) in Edinburg.
The STISD valedictorians are Hannah Navarro of Health Professions, Valeria Garcia of Medical Professions, Manuel Reynoso of Science Academy, Camila Rojas of Virtual Academy, and Nilgeidy Rojas Sanchez of World Scholars.
Navarro of Alamo will attend The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in the fall, where she will major in biology.
Garcia of Brownsville will attend Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she will major in sports medicine.
Reynoso of McAllen will attend Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he will pursue a degree in biology.
Rojas of McAllen will attend UTRGV, where she will major in biology.
Rojas Sanchez of Edinburg will attend Rice University, where she will major in psychology.
The STISD salutatorians are Elizabeth Taw of Health Professions, Juan Flores of Medical Professions, Osric Dienda of Science Academy, Jaykayla Alexander of Virtual Academy, and Alana Albert of World Scholars.
Taw of Harlingen will attend The University of Texas at Austin, where she will study biochemistry.
Flores of Brownsville will attend Stanford University in Stanford, California, where he will major in bioengineering and minor in philosophy.
Dienda of Mission will attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to major in physics.
Alexander will attend The University of Houston to major in business.
Albert of Edinburg will attend Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she will pursue dance and psychology.
STISD is comprised of four magnet high schools – South Texas ISD Health Professions, South Texas ISD Medical Professions, South Texas ISD Science Academy, and South Texas ISD World Scholars– as well as two middle schools – South Texas ISD Preparatory Academy and South Texas ISD Rising Scholars Academy – and one virtual campus that includes middle and high school – South Texas ISD Virtual Academy. All campuses are tuition-free and serve students from Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy Counties. For more information, visit www.stisd.net.
