New London — Fifty-six weeks after Porter and Chester Institute opened a new campus at the corner of Bank and Howard streets, to fill the void created with the abrupt closure of Ridley-Lowell, the technical school handed out diplomas at its first graduation.
The ceremony, held Friday evening at New London High School, recognized the 15 graduates: nine for medical assisting, and three each in the electrician and dental assisting programs. Electrician is a yearlong program, while medical and dental assisting are each nine months.
Carol Cournoyer, director of operations and education for the campus, said that six of the students are working in their fields, three had offers on the table as of Friday, and two more are taking certification exams. She said Porter and Chester has a passing rate of 82 percent across the medical and dental assisting programs.