04/27/2026
We are incredibly proud to celebrate a very special achievement within our team family! 🎓✨
Please join us in congratulating Juan Flores Hernandez’s daughter, Gracie, on being named the Valedictorian of Uvalde High School’s Class of 2026! This is an outstanding accomplishment that reflects years of hard work, dedication, and perseverance.
Your success is an inspiration to us all, and we couldn’t be happier for you and your family. Juan, your pride is well deserved!
Wishing you all the best as you begin this exciting new chapter—your future is bright! 🌟
Gracie Flores is an exceptional first-generation Hispanic student whose dedication to excellence is driven not only by her personal ambition but by her desire to create a better future for her family. As the Uvalde High School senior class of 2026 valedictorian, Gracie has consistently demonstrated integrity, accountability, and a commitment to high standards, leading by example through responsibility and honesty.
Gracie’s long-term goal is to pursue a career as a corporate lawyer. She will be attending The University of Texas at San Antonio, where she plans to major in Business Administration with a concentration in Management at the Alvarez College of Business. Throughout high school, she has distinguished herself through rigorous academic programs such as the Uvalde High School Law Enforcement program, the Dual Language Program, and Early College High School. She earned her Non-Commissioned Security Officer Level II Certification, the Bilingual & Biliteracy Distinction, and the AP Scholar with Distinction Award. She will be graduating Summa Cum Laude as an Early College High School student. Beyond academics, Gracie has been actively involved in numerous extracurricular activities in high school. She has been a member of the National Honor Society since her sophomore year, participated in the Criminal Justice Club for three years, and was the winning Prosecuting Attorney for the UHS Mock Trial of 2023. She is part of the Criminal Justice group Y.O.U. (Youth of Uvalde) that helped create the Coyote Kit, which has been recognized through the Texas School Center, and recreated safety tools and guidelines for all Texas schools. The Coyote Kit has also been awarded the 2025 Spring Safety Spotlight Award for student-led groups, and Gracie has been instrumental in expanding the Law program. She also participated in her school’s Book Club and showcased her musical talent as a violinist on the UIL State Mariachi-winning team in 2023.
Gracie has also earned several accomplishments as a dual credit student with Southwest Texas College. She earned recognition as a Phi Theta Kappa inductee during her sophomore year. Her academic excellence continues at Southwest Texas College, where she will achieve her Associate of Arts degree this May. Throughout her academic studies with SWTXC, she has earned both President’s List and Dean’s Honor Roll distinctions.
Gracie’s high school and college achievements have earned her multiple prestigious recognitions. She has been awarded Presidential Scholarships from St. Mary’s University and Texas State University, as well as the Jaguar Promise Scholarship from Texas A&M University–San Antonio. She has also been selected as a finalist for both the Dell Scholarship and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
Most notably, Gracie has been named a recipient of the highly competitive Gates Scholarship and the Terry Foundation Scholarship. The Gates Scholarship is a nationally prestigious, last-dollar scholarship awarded to outstanding minority students across the nation, who are among the academically top 10 students of their class, recognizing exceptional academic achievement, leadership, and personal success skills. Gracie will be traveling this summer to Phoenix, Arizona, to the Gates Scholarship Summer Institute where she will meet and network with other Gates Scholarship recipients from across the nation. Similarly, the Terry Foundation Scholarship is a prestigious, full-ride "last-dollar" award for Texas high school seniors attending select Texas public universities. It covers tuition, fees, and living expenses for up to eight semesters, based on leadership, academics, and financial need. Each year, the foundation selects a new cohort of freshmen, with recent years seeing over 200 new scholars awarded and roughly 600 candidates interviewed.
These honors reflect Gracie’s unwavering dedication, resilience, and potential for future success. She stands as a remarkable example of what can be achieved through hard work and determination, and her accomplishments bring great pride to her school and community.
She dedicates all of her accomplishments and drive to her family, especially her hardworking parents, Juan Flores and Maria Elizabeth Flores. She will continue to work hard to make her family and community proud.
