SLIPPERY ROCK — Friends till the end might be the unofficial motto of Slippery Rock School District's class of 2016, which graduated Friday evening.

The uncommonly small class of uncommonly close-knit students — 146 in all — helped distinguish the district academically, and set the stage for what teachers and administrators hope will be big futures.

High school principal Cory Hake said his first year as the building's head administrator confirmed what he has always heard about the class of 2016: they're a class where no one is left behind.

“It's always had a reputation of being a very together group of kids,” Hake said. Senior class adviser Amy Geibel, who also teaches math at the district, agreed.

“They're amazing,” she said. “They're just a really tight-knit class. They're all friends with each other.”

The class is no slouch in the classroom either, Geibel said. Slippery Rock was named a national Blue Ribbon Award school this year, thanks in large part to the academic success of this class — a fact superintendent Alfonso Angelucci underscored when he told guests on Friday that nearly 70 percent of the class' 146 students intended to continue their education after high school, and that the class won, in total, nearly $1 million worth of scholarships and other awards based on their high school performance.