LP’s Class of ’24 Wins $3.6 Million In Scholarships

Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School’s Class of 2024 shattered the school’s previous records for scholarships, racking up $3.6 million in total awards from colleges across the country.

Seniors at Lincoln Park have annually pulled in well over $2 million in annual scholarships, a figure that is reported each year at graduation. However, the Class of 2024 bested previous highs by nearly a million dollars.

“We’re proud of every single graduating class here at LP,” said CEO P.K. Poling. “But you can’t argue with what this year’s seniors did. It is truly an awesome accomplishment.”

This year’s graduates won a wide variety of scholarships, Poling noted—some of them artistic, some of them academic, and some of them athletic. The scholarships came primarily from four-year schools across the United States, in fields that ranged from acting and musical theatre, dance, music performance, and journalism to biochemistry, psychology, engineering, and political science.

“What that shows you is how well-rounded our student body is,” Poling said. “Lincoln Park is a place where students can come and not only pursue their passions—it’s a place where you can hone your skills well enough to win a scholarship that will help you at the next level.”

There were several full scholarships among the $3.6 million in total awards, he added.

The scholarship total was announced at the 2024 Commencement ceremony, held in Lincoln Park Performing Art’s Center’s main theater on Saturday, June 8 and witnessed by families, friends, and faculty members.

One of the other notable awards given at the ceremony was another Lincoln Park tradition: medals that are awarded to students who spent their entire middle and high school careers at Lincoln Park, from grades 7 through 12.

Six-year medals were awarded to more than 40 graduating seniors, something principal Tonya Milsom said makes her especially proud.

“When you spend six years with us here—especially when you think about how far many of our students have to travel to get to Lincoln Park—well, I think that says a lot about the quality of education we offer here,” said Milsom.

Lincoln Park draws students from more than 90 different school districts across Western Pennsylvania. Because it is a public charter school, it is open to all Pennsylvania residents. The school transports most of its students to and from Midland via chartered school buses, at its own expense.

The Class of 2024, which had 166 members, was the largest graduating class at Lincoln Park thus far.

“The Class of 2024 set a high bar for our forthcoming seniors,” Poling said. “They’ll be tough to replace—not just in total number, but in their outstanding achievements.

“But the nice thing about our school,” he added, “is that this is a goal that our students will most definitely try to exceed.”

Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School is a tuition-free public charter school located in Midland, PA, and open to all Pennsylvania families. Students grades 7-12 are bused from more than 90 different school districts to study the arts concentration of their choice: theatre, writing and publishing, media arts, health science and the arts, music, dance, and pre-law and the arts.

For more information, visit lppacs.org or contact: admissions@lppacs.org