Long Island twins named high schools valedictorian, salutatorian as both head to Ivy League

A pair of Brown University-bound Long Island twins did what no other siblings ever have in the history of prestigious Chaminade High School — finish their academic tenure as both valedictorian and salutatorian.Recent grad John Gomes, 18, earned a cumulative 99.42 over four years and edged out his younger-by-a-minute brother Joseph Gomes who put together a hard-fought 99.29.“There have been a couple of times where we used to boast about who does better in calculus, who does better in physics,” John Gomes told The Post.“Ultimately, our end goal is not to just boast, but ultimately help whoever is kind of behind.”Joseph Gomes beat his older brother as a 12th grader, earning a 99.67 over his twin’s 98.83 for the year, John Gomes said.“A lot of seniors get senior-itis and slack off and don’t focus as much,” John said, “but one exception to that was my brother.It was actually his highest average out of his four years.”The 18-year-olds have been inseparable ever since they were little boys, sharing a love for tennis, Nintendo, board games, and their “big birthday parties” while growing up in Hewlett. “We were always encouraged to stay together,” Joseph Gomes said.

“We pretty much spent almost every day together.”They chose to become Chaminade Flyers to challenge themselves at the intense Mineola institution, and it didn’t take long for their peers to notice.“A few kids used to come to me freshman year and like ask, ‘how is your average so high, what do you do?'” Joseph Gomes said.“I’m taking notes in class, and then students are like, ‘I wasn’t paying attention, could I please have your notes?'” John added.“I’m like, fine, but you’ve got to do the actual problems yourself.”The boys’ work ethic quickly cemented them as role models for the entire school, principal Robert Paul said.“They’ve also taken the hardest classes we offer here,” he said.“There are other pathways that you could take where maybe th...