Mount Zion High School has updated its announcement of valedictorian for the Class of 2026 due to an issue with final grades for a dual enrollment course. Kimberly Yasmin Villalba has been named one of two valedictorians, along with Jacey Hart Turner, who was announced earlier.
Villalba will be attending the University of Georgia and plans to major in biology.
Villalba’s final grade from her college class had an error submitted by the professor after the district’s deadline for GPA calculations. Once received, the corrected grade changed Villalba’s final overall GPA.
“Kimberly earned her spot as a valedictorian of Mount Zion High School, and it is right to add her to the recognition published earlier this week,” Carroll County Schools Associate Superintendent of School Performance Dr. Jessica Ainsworth said. “Though the error was not the district’s, we apologize to Kimberly for leaving her out of the original announcement and recognition.”
Villalba will be honored as a valedictorian at the school’s commencement exercises, and the district’s 24Strong Educational Foundation has given her the same valedictorian scholarship that the county’s other valedictorians received.
Mount Zion High School will celebrate Villalba and all 2026 graduates at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Donald Nixon Stadium. The public is invited to attend.