L.I. High School Celebrates Alum Natalie Portman's Oscar Win

SYOSSET, N.Y. (1010 WINS) -- Oscar winner Natalie Portman graduated from Syosset High School on Long Island in 1999. Students and alumni are buzzing about her award for best actress in "Black Swan."

"All year-round you hear people talking about Natalie Portman," John Peterson told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera.

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Peterson, of Framing Productions, has framed a portrait photograph of the Hollywood star for her parents, who still have a home in the area. He called Portman multi-talented and "a pretty good artist."

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"The Academy Award was the king of all awards and she absolutely deserved it," Peterson said.

After graduating from high school, Portman went on to study psychology at Harvard University while working on the "Star Wars" films.

Fellow high school graduates were particularly protective of Portman's image as a bright student.

"We just heard a lot of stories about, you know, 'she was out of school a lot because she was acting,' but she was an extremely bright pupil and a very kind person," Tammy Kim said.

They were also quick to point out the 29-year-old Portman was an Intel semi-finalist.

"Actually I was in that competition myself and I know extremely, extremely how hard it is to get that far and how much work it actually is," Kim said.

In 2005, Portman won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the drama "Closer." Her first role was in 1994's Leon.