New Hyde Park Memorial High School named its 2025 valedictorian and salutatorian, who not only encompass high academic achievement but also a commitment to their community and diverse passions.
Marco Valle, who has earned a 102.85 GPA, was selected as valedictorian. While achieving a high GPA through multiple advanced, accelerated and Advanced Placement courses, Valle was also recognized for his achievements outside of the classroom.
“Valle is well-regarded as a remarkable student who is disciplined, curious and passionate about his studies,” the district wrote in a release.
Clayton Yu was named the school’s salutatorian and was also recognized for his high performing GPA of 102.66 and diverse science and music interests.
“Yu is an intellectual and humble student who is known throughout the building as a genuinely kind person,” the district said.
Valedictorian Valle serves as president of the Class of 2025 and treasurer for the Student Council. He also is a tutor for the history Regents exam, features editor of the school newspaper and leader in the Model United Nations team – of which he was awarded the Best Delegate Awards.
Outside of school, Valle is a Boy Scouts troop instructor for Troop 544. His service projects included restoring the Tanglewood Preserve and building three podiums for the New Hyde Park Model UN chapter.
Valle also worked as an intern for Rep. Tom Suozzi’s campaign.
Salutatorian Yu was recognized for his diligence in his academics, with the district saying he sought out challenging courses and ways to expand his learning. This included self-teaching Algebra 2 curriculum and later scoring a 97 on the Regents exam.
Yu’s education goes beyond New Hyde Park Memorial High School.
He completed a multivariable calculus class at Nassau Community College during his junior year and this fall enrolled in its elementary linear algebra course. Yu also attended Columbia University Science Honors Program for a Data Science class.
He was also a National Merit Semifinalist for his high performance in the PSAT.
Yu participated in the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals High School Mentoring Program last summer and conducted and presented research on Differential Gene Expression Analysis on RNA-Sequencing Data.
He uses his academic strengths to tutor students and he accrued more than 60 hours of community service doing this.
Outside of academics, Yu also plays the French horn and piano, for which he was applauded by the school. His French horn skills secured him a spot in the All-State Symphony Orchestra.
He is a a member of the school’s band, marching band, pit band and selective wind ensemble.
