PASADENA – On Monday morning, AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School (MHS) students walked out of their classrooms to protest the proposed closure of their school, holding signs expressing their concerns and opposition to the sudden closure.

On Friday, October 25, the Armenian General Benevolent Union Central Board, along with the Manoukian Foundation and MHS Board of Trustees, citing declining enrollment and increased deficit, announced via email, that they will combine the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School in Pasadena with Manoogian-Demirjian School (MDS) in Canoga Park at the end of the school year.

Students held signs which read: “This is not our verchin zank. You can’t ignore us #SaveMHS. We deserve a senior year 2021. I should be worrying about my future college, not my future high school.”

No further announcements have been made by the school in light of the protests.