CARLSBAD -- Carlsbad will send another wave of graduates into the world of work, higher education and public service Thursday in ceremonies at Carlsbad High and Carlsbad Village Academy.

All told, Carlsbad Unified School District will graduate about 727 seniors from three high schools on June 14. Four years ago, 785 ninth-graders began their journey through Carlsbad's high schools.

In a combined graduation ceremony Thursday morning at 9 a.m., Carlsbad Village Academy and Carlsbad Seaside Academy will send about 55 to 60 seniors into the world, said Bob Ingersol, an administrator with Carlsbad Village Academy. The graduation will be held at the campus, 1640 Magnolia Avenue.

Carlsbad Village Academy offers an alternative program for credit-deficient students. Carlsbad Seaside Academy is a program for highly motivated students.

The exact number of graduates is uncertain, Ingersol said, because some students at the alternative school are still completing required coursework.

Ingersol said many students at the school have inspirational stories to tell about overcoming great odds and obstacles to earn the right to stand on the graduation stage. The event will also include the award of scholarships for higher education in trade and technical schools from the Rotary Club of Carlsbad, the Jonathan Tarr Foundation, the California Association of Work Experience Educators, Fiesta Del Barrio and the Carlsbad Junior Woman's Club, Ingersol said.

Flanked by school board president Kelli Moors and trustees Nicole Pappas and Lisa Rodman, Principal Keith Holley will address students during the event.

At 5 p.m. Thursday, Carlsbad High School will host a graduation ceremony in Lancers Stadium, with Maggie Stanchi officiating for the first time since she became principal last August. The gates open at 4 p.m. and school officials recommend arriving early. The school parking lots will fill quickly, and overflow parking will be on the streets.

Moors said she will get the "unimaginable gift of a lifetime" Thursday when she hands her daughter Alison her diploma. Trustees Nicole Pappas and Elisa Williamson will also see their sons, Michael and Derek respectively, graduate.

"It is the best perk of this job, the best unrelated benefit," Moors said last week. "Alison has been the inspiration for me to contribute to public schools.

"I'll be wearing waterproof mascara," Moors said. "I don't want to be crying black tears."

Some 667 graduating seniors will fill Lancer Stadium in gowns of purple or gold, said Phyllis Setser, administrative assistant to vice principal Margie Giordani. Honors students with grade point averages of 3.5 or higher will wear gold gowns, Moors said.

Senior Lindsay Bertrand will sing the national anthem. Senior Sarah C. Raifsnider will read a speech entitled "The Dash." Lauren Michelle Bowen will talk about individuality in her speech.

Moors said she will invoke Plato's ideal of the Philosopher King -- the leader who serves -- in her keynote speech. She will encourage students to seek the good in people wherever their lives take them, to be optimistic, to see the glass as half full.

This year's valedictorian is Joanna Lu. The co-salutatorians are Melanie Major and Arjun Ravikumar.

Armed with a 4.5 grade point average and fluent in English and Chinese, Joanna will attend Yale University in the fall. She will study economics and hopes to work on Wall Street one day in finance or international business.

Senior class President Natalie Threlfall will present the school with the senior class gift. The invitation to graduates to turn their tassels will given by Ernest Walker, president of the Associated Student Body.

Moors said graduation is both an end and a beginning for seniors. She reflected on her own graduation ceremony at Clairemont High School in June of 1978.

"I was a 'brainiac' and my graduation was a big deal," she said. "I remember really looking around and thinking, 'These are the last few moments I will be sitting with these people -- I remember their names, Terry Gnehm and David Goddard -- that I'd sat between for four years since the first day of high school.' And I was right. I haven't seen them since."

Contact Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or online at pireland@nctimes.com.