Nearly 700 seniors from North Allegheny High School were set to receive their diplomas June 3, making it one of the largest graduating classes in recent years.

“Pending the way you look at the numbers, it’s a tie for the sixth largest,” according to Brandi Smith, school district public relations and communications specialist.

The final count was 697 students to take part in commencement exercises for the Class of 2022 at NA’s Newman Stadium.

But 2021-2022 didn’t beat the largest class, which hailed in 1977, with 720 seniors. It’s followed by 710 graduates in 1978 and 700 in 1979. The classes of 2005 and 2015 each had 699 grads, she said. The Class of 2022 tied with the Class of 2009 at 697 graduates, Smith said.

The outgoing seniors spent May attending special events, including the senior prom at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh; or a Walk Back in Time — where they visited their former elementary schools. They also attended a senior banquet on the Gateway Clipper with dinner, dancing and an awards ceremony.

“I am going to miss all the fun activities and playing high school basketball,” said Taylor Rawls, 18, of Sewickley, who is going to Christopher Newport University, in Newport News, Va., to play college basketball and major in business. “Ever since I moved here from Houston, everyone welcomed me with open arms and supported me through my ACL and wrist injury. North Allegheny is a great school with amazing people,” she said.

Matthew Miller, 18, of McCandless is set to attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania to study early childhood education.

“The atmosphere around North Allegheny was always special. From elementary school field days to Friday Night Lights in the student section, it all felt special. NA musicals were something special to me during my time at NA. Getting to work with students to put on a production on stage is something I will never forget,” he said.

He said he is grateful to all of the teachers who helped him along the way.

“The thing I will miss the most is all the memories I made with my classmates along the way through all the years at North Allegheny,” he said.

Michelle Hwang, 17, of Sewickley plans to study journalism and computer science at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

“What I will miss most about NA are the faces. I think what I’m realizing more than ever now that I’m graduating is the truth of the saying ‘home is where the heart is,’ because as cheesy as it is, the people are what make North Allegheny special to me,” Hwang said.

She said there are specific locations in the school that hold particular meaning to her such as the library, the control room in the broadcast studio, the greenhouse, and to those people who were connected with her then.

“Sincerely, thank you to North Allegheny for giving me the people who made me feel so connected at this school — my best friends, my favorite teachers, and all the vaguely familiar faces I passed in the hallways,” she said.