Utah Virtual Academy Graduates 202 Seniors at Class of 2026 Commencement

They came from Brigham City and Kearns. From Enterprise and Eagle Mountain. From Marysville and dozens of towns in between. On May 22, 2026 seniors from Utah Virtual Academy (UTVA) gathered in the same room for the first time, many of them meeting face to face the classmates and teachers they had known only through years of virtual learning, and they graduated.

The Class of 2026 commencement brought students together from 79 cities across Utah, a reflection of what UTVA has always been: a school without geographic boundaries, built around the student, not the building.

What this class accomplished

The Class of 2026 built a strong record. 185 graduates completed full career and technical education pathways in fields including business, healthcare, information technology, and engineering. Hundreds earned college credits through concurrent enrollment while still in high school. Eleven have been at UTVA for ten or more years. Three have been UTVA students since kindergarten, completing their entire K-12 education with the school. 34 are graduating with high honors or honors, five with 4.0 grade point averages, and eleven are members of the National Honor Society.

Getting back up

Keynote speaker Dr. Shaun McAlmont, chief executive officer of the Collaborative for Higher Education Services, opened his address with a story from the NCAA Championships, where he severed a tendon mid-race causing him to fall in front of thousands, and got up to finish anyway. The Olympics he had trained his entire career to reach were weeks away. He would not make it.

“Sometimes the goal, the achievement, and the true victory is simply getting back up and finishing. When you stumbled, you got up. You continued to push. And here you are today.”

Dr. Shaun McAlmont, keynote speaker

He connected that experience directly to the habits this class built through years of online learning: managing their own time, communicating clearly in writing, and following through when no one was checking.

“The people who succeed in this next era will not be the people who resist change and challenge,” he said, “but the ones who adapt intelligently to it.”

The people who were not in the building

Executive Director Meghan Merideth opened the ceremony by turning the spotlight toward the people standing behind every graduate in the room: the people who made it possible without wearing a cap and gown. She recognized the parents, grandparents, guardians, older siblings, and family friends who served as learning coaches, and the 240 part-time SOEP students graduating at other schools across Utah who took at least one course through UTVA.

“You chose a school that walked into your home every day. You sat through hard math problems. You sat through harder conversations. You were the learning coach before it was a job title. Your graduate is not sitting in this chapter now without you.”

Meghan Merideth, Executive Director

She also spoke to what it means that this graduating class came from 79 cities.

“Public education is built on the promise that a child's zip code would not decide their future. A virtual public charter school is one of the ways that promise gets kept in places the traditional system cannot reach.”

Meghan Merideth, Executive Director

From the graduates themselves

Valedictorian Zackery Kahl drew on years of student leadership to arrive at the lesson that stayed with him longest: that compassion is not softness, it is the hardest and most durable kind of strength.

“Compassion and understanding will prevail above all. Those obstacles are merely tests of how much we can handle before we give up. When faced with problems, there will always be a solution, and if not, a more desirable outcome.”

Zackery Kahl, Valedictorian

Salutatorian Camille Fischer acknowledged that the road was not always smooth, for her or for her classmates.

“So much has happened during our school years, both in the world around us and in our individual lives. The teachers at UTVA were always really kind and understanding, always willing to go out of their way to offer me guidance and support. Thank you to the teachers here and those that aren't here in person for taking time out of your busy schedules to help all of us get here.”

Camille Fischer, Salutatorian

Simple advice, meant to last

Board Chair Dallin Drescher closed the speaker program with three pieces of advice he kept deliberately simple: call your parents, do your laundry, and do good.

He spent the most time on the third.

“So much of our life is measured by accomplishments. But I believe that the joy you'll feel from your life is directly correlated to the good you do. The world does not need you to solve enormous problems. It needs you to just do something in your neighborhood, in your work, in how you show up every day.”

Dallin Drescher, Board Chair

What comes next

The Class of 2026 moves into a wide range of post-graduation paths. 69 graduates are heading into higher education, 52 to technical and trade schools, 12 into apprenticeships, six into military service, and eight to religious or service missions. Many are going directly into full-time work.

Whatever the path, they leave UTVA having already practiced the skills that matter most: showing up consistently, asking for help when they needed it, and finishing what they started.

Congratulations, Class of 2026!

Utah Virtual Academy is enrolling full-time and part-time students for the 2026-27 school year. Learn more at utahvirtualacademy.org.

About Utah Virtual Academy

Utah Virtual Academy (UTVA) is a tuition-free, accredited online public charter school serving K-12 students across Utah. With flexible full-time and part-time enrollment options, live instruction from certified Utah teachers, and a curriculum aligned to state standards, UTVA provides personalized, high-quality education that meets students where they are. Learn more at utahvirtualacademy.org.