HIALEAH, Fla. -- Seventeen Hialeah High School students in the class of 2008 are going to Ivy League colleges on scholarships.The 17 students are drawing a lot of attention, especially because of the high school's FCAT scores."We might have been a school that scored an F on the FCAT last year, but we're definitely not an F school," said Principal Lorenzo De Daga. "This is an indication of what takes place here at Hialeah."
The students, many of whom have been together since elementary school, said they are ready to tackle the opportunity and challenge of a lifetime."We've had the same teachers, wonderful teachers. Our (Advanced Placement) program, it's incredible," said student Yordanis Diez. "So the work environment's not going to be that different, I don't think."The principal said he is just as happy for the approximately 700 other students who are graduating. He is aware that even the 17 bound for Ivy League schools will face challenges, NBC6's Hank Tester reported.Students Jessica Artiles said her father initially wanted her to stay home instead of traveling to MIT for school."It was really hard to get him to understand that MIT is an opportunity that might only come once in my life," she said.In addition to MIT, the students will enroll at colleges such as Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale.
