GHS Gazette

By Dominic Aragon

Talk around the Grants High School campus had been that the Class of 2026 was the largest in recent memory, so we wanted to see how big the class is and how it compares to prior graduating classes.

This year, the Class of 2026 is set to graduate 183 seniors, the highest senior count since the GHS Class of 1988, according to available records. That class had 190 graduating seniors.

The class of 2026 edged out the classes of 2016 and 2009 for the new title of largest, which saw 182 graduating seniors in each.

A Look at History

While the data does not have a complete history dating back to the school’s first graduating class, the numbers include 1948 through present.

The classes from 1948 through 1957 all featured double-digit graduating class sizes. The population of Grants in 1950 was around 2,220, according to the U.S. Census.

1958 was the first year on record showing a triple-digit-sized class (127). 1967 showed the first class to cross the double-century mark with 212 graduates. During this time, the area was seeing a boom in uranium mining, and the U.S. Census put the 1960 population figures above 10,000 people.

From 1970 to 1982, the data shows the largest class sizes, with each of the years consistently having classes over the 200 mark. Grants’ population at the 1980 Census was above 11,000.

The largest graduating class based on available data was 1977 with 264 seniors.

As Grants’ population declined through the 1980s and 1990s, so did graduating classes, with the school’s lowest graduating class featuring 97 seniors in 2003.

Over the 79-year history of data collected, Grants High School has graduated 12,008 students since the 1948 class.

Compiling the Data

Official school records, past graduation programs, and school yearbooks were used to acquire the data for each graduating class.

Data from 2026 was pulled from school records. The data for classes 2025 through 2012, with the exception of 2020, were compiled from official graduation programs. Every other class’s data was compiled from school yearbooks.

Brenda Truijillo, the school’s registrar, helped with the stats from past programs. The school’s archive had many yearbooks, dating back to 1948. The Grants Public Library helped fill the gaps from yearbooks not available on the GHS campus.

The full list of what research we uncovered can be found below, along with the source from where the numbers were pulled from. How big was your graduating class?

YEAR, CLASS SIZE, SOURCE

2026 183 Records

2025 160 Program

2024 166 Program

2023 142 Program

2022 169 Program

2021 145 Program

2020 177 Yearbook

2019 167 Program

2018 129 Program

2017 140 Program

2016 182 Program

2015 151 Program

2014 143 Program

2013 132 Program

2012 174 Program

2011 133 Yearbook

2010 120 Yearbook

2009 182 Yearbook

2008 134 Yearbook

2007 138 Yearbook

2006 115 Yearbook

2005 126 Yearbook

2004 114 Yearbook

2003 97 Yearbook

2002 113 Yearbook

2001 120 Yearbook

2000 146 Yearbook

1999 126 Yearbook

1998 152 Yearbook

1997 111 Yearbook

1996 101 Yearbook

1995 105 Yearbook

1994 129 Yearbook

1993 137 Yearbook

1992 127 Yearbook

1991 140 Yearbook

1990 162 Yearbook

1989 161 Yearbook

1988 194 Yearbook

1987 161 Yearbook

1986 190 Yearbook

1985 181 Yearbook

1984 180 Yearbook

1983 190 Yearbook

1982 222 Yearbook

1981 208 Yearbook

1980 236 Yearbook

1979 253 Yearbook

1978 231 Yearbook

1977 264 Yearbook

1976 263 Yearbook

1975 245 Yearbook

1974 234 Yearbook

1973 222 Yearbook

1972 206 Yearbook

1971 202 Yearbook

1970 220 Yearbook

1969 196 Yearbook

1968 173 Yearbook

1967 212 Yearbook

1966 194 Yearbook

1965 195 Yearbook

1964 151 Yearbook

1963 180 Yearbook

1962 184 Yearbook

1961 184 Yearbook

1960 180 Yearbook

1959 120 Yearbook

1958 127 Yearbook

1957 69 Yearbook

1956 64 Yearbook

1955 45 Yearbook

1954 59 Yearbook

1953 44 Yearbook

1952 45 Yearbook

1951 29 Yearbook

1950 32 Yearbook

1949 36 Yearbook

1948 38 Yearbook