Graduation day at Verbum Dei High School in Watts

With their mother Marlene Chapa watching, Ricardo Placensia, left and twin Robert horse around in the frontyard of their house in Watts. When the boys were three years old they lived with their single mom in a shelter to escape domestic violence. Now they are about to graduate from Verbum Dei High School.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Ricardo Placensia blushes as the staff at the law firm of Locke Lord in downtown L.A. applaud him during his going-away party. He interned at the firm, part of the Verbum Dei High School program to help disadvantaged young people.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

During a party commemorating his years of internship at Locke Lord in downtown L.A., Ricardo Placensia shakes hands with Jon Rewinski, a partner in the law firm. For many years the Jesuit-run Verbum Dei High School has achieved the remarkable distinction of sending 100% of its graduates to a college or university.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Twins Robert and Ricardo Placensia use their cellphone cameras to primp before their graduation ceremony at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in Los Angeles. At right is Eduardo Ramirez, a close friend from their Watts neighborhood.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Ricardo, left, and Robert Placensia hold hands durng the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer during their Verbum Dei High School graduation ceremony at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in Los Angeles.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Ricardo Placensia, right, and Robert Placensia receive their diplomas as graduates of Verbum Dei High School during a ceremony at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in Los Angeles.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Marlene Chapa hugs her son Robert Placensia at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels after his Verbum Dei High School graduation ceremony on June 6, 2013.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)