New Hyde Park Memorial High School is pleased to announce that Marco Valle and Clayton Yu are the valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, of the Class of 2025.
Marco is well-regarded as a remarkable student who is disciplined, curious and passionate about his studies. He excels across all academic disciplines and has enrolled in many advanced, accelerated and Advanced Placement courses. His success in the classroom is evident through his overall GPA of 102.85. One of his many positive qualities is his sense of leadership, and he confidently displays this through his roles as the president of Class of 2025; treasurer of the Student Council; a tutor for the history Regents exam; and the features editor of the school newspaper, The Chariot. Marco has also been a leader in the school’s award-winning Model United Nations team and has received Best Delegate Awards for his debating accomplishments. Along with his incredible involvement in the school community, he is a Boy Scouts Troop Instructor for Troop 544. Through his work with the Boy Scouts, he participated in a service project to restore the Tanglewood Preserve in Lakeview. Marco directly benefited the school through his Eagle Scout project, fundraising and building three fully designed podiums for New Hyde Park’s Model UN chapter. Additionally, during the summer before he entered 10th grade, Marco secured an internship position with Tom Suozzi’s campaign.
Clayton is an intellectual and humble student who is known throughout the building as a genuinely kind person. His academic prowess shines through his overall GPA of 102.66. Due to his high scores on the PSAT, he was recognized as a National Merit Semifinalist. Each year, Clayton chooses his courses carefully to ensure he doesn’t miss an opportunity to learn and be challenged. He self-taught the Algebra 2 curriculum and tested out of the course, scoring a 97 on the Regents exam. During his junior year, he also completed a multivariable calculus class at Nassau Community College. This fall, he is enrolled in an elementary linear algebra class at the local college. Among his accomplishments, Clayton spent last summer completing the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals High School Mentoring Program, where he conducted and presented research on Differential Gene Expression Analysis on RNA-Sequencing Data. He also attended Columbia University Science Honors Program for a Data Science class. Along with his impressive academics, Clayton is a talented French Horn player and a pianist, dedicating his time as a member of the school’s band, marching band, pit band and selective wind ensemble. This year, he was selected to perform in the All-State Symphony Orchestra on the French Horn. Additionally, Clayton has volunteered over 60 hours of his time tutoring younger students.
