Seniors at Washington-Liberty High School kicked off the first day of school today (Monday) with an annual “Senior Sunrise” tradition on the school’s football field.
Students from the class of 2026 began shuffling onto the field around 6 a.m., and by sunrise, about 100 of them had gathered at War Memorial Stadium to celebrate. As they took pictures, lounged on blankets and enjoyed a free breakfast treat, some reflected on what it meant to begin their final year of high school.
“Fall sports have already started, so things have already started ending, which is very sad and also, kind of exciting,” said Apollo, a senior on the field hockey team. “I’m already hitting the things that I’ll never do again — which is great, because I’m free, but bad, because I’m free.”
Apollo’s friends nodded, sharing the eager-but-wistful sentiment.
“I’m really, really excited, but also, at the same time, for the past week, I felt like I’m going to throw up constantly,” senior Wilbur Nardone said. “I’ve also made a senior sadness playlist to play in the car.”
What are the top tracks?
“Let Down” by Radiohead, “Vienna” by Billy Joel and “Ribs” by Lorde — “just to feel the melancholy feelings as they come about,” Nardone added.
Senior Kenyan Washington, meanwhile, came dressed for the occasion in a homemade T-shirt that read “SENIOR 2026” in bubble letters.
Washington said he looks forward to attending football games with friends this season and enjoying Washington-Liberty’s lineup of senior spirit activities.
Assistant Principal Timica Shivers has led the class of 2026 since their first steps into Washington-Liberty three years ago. She said watching their growth over the years has conjured an “incredible warm and fuzzy feeling.”
“I’ve been through the ups and the downs with them, building the relationships with the students, with their families,” Shivers said. “They have exhibited extreme resilience and tenacity through every challenge that has come and been thrown their way.”
Standing among the crowds, Superintendent Francisco Durán told ARLnow about his excitement and goals for the new school year.
“It’s always fun to welcome our students back, to see the joy as they come back and see their friends, to have them make new friends and get to learn with their teachers,” Durán said.
This year marks a couple of changes at APS, including the rollout of cellphone pouches at high schools, as well as a new elementary school volunteer literacy program. More details for the program should be released sometime next month, he said.
Durán said he hopes to support teachers and help students “stay focused on just school and learning right now” throughout the 2025-2026 school year.
“There’s a lot of things going on in the world, politically and otherwise, that really can draw away from someone feeling safe at school, someone feeling that they’re welcome at school, teachers worrying about what they can teach [or] not teach,” he said.
“My goal is to do what can I do to make sure that they can just come to school and be high schoolers, be middle schoolers, be elementary students, and teachers just come and teach.”
