Agoura, Calabasas seniors reach for the stars

The Las Virgenes Unified School District held graduation ceremonies on June 11 to honor the class of 2026, recognizing a combined total of 789 graduates from Agoura and Calabasas high schools. Commencement programs at both schools centered on themes of time, gratitude and the relationships seniors formed during their high school years.

At Agoura High, Principal Garrett Lepisto, an alumnus, welcomed the Charger graduates on the football field and highlighted the class’s athletic, academic and artistic accomplishments, including historic playoff runs, CIF championship appearances, record-setting performances, strong stage work and a perfect ACT score. Lepisto also acknowledged two classmates, Peyton Trilling and Carter Stone, who died before graduation. Student speakers Story Austin and Buck Heffernan reflected on how quickly high school passed and the growth they experienced. Musicians Kaya Cummings and Easton Verano performed solo pieces, a schoolboard member, Alan Lazar, spoke in support of the district’s smartphone ban and graduates closed by forming a traditional friendship circle and singing the alma mater before a flyover by two World War II–era planes from the Condor Squadron.

At Calabasas High, senior speaker Kaylee Abraham asked classmates to notice the finality of ordinary moments and considered how meaning endures even as time moves on. Principal Bennett Wutkee used the word “nervouscited” to describe the mix of anxiety and excitement graduates feel about new challenges and encouraged them to embrace those opportunities. A senior ensemble performed Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” as part of the ceremony.

This is a plain-language summary written for The Block. Read the original article for full details.