BEVERLY, Mass. — Seventeen students graduated Wednesday from Northshore Recovery High School. But it was the two who never made it who served as a reminder of just how perilous their journey has been.

Daniel Amor and Kelly Johnson died of heroin overdoses two weeks apart in January, marking the first two deaths in the nine-year history of Northshore Recovery, one of three high schools in the state for students struggling with addiction.

The families of Amor, of Beverly, and Johnson, of Andover, lit two candles that burned throughout the ceremony at the school, which is located in the basement of the Memorial Building on Cabot Street.

“It’s been a difficult year,” Principal Michelle Lipinski said to start the evening. “We lost two of our classmates who should be here right now to graduate with us.”

While the ceremony remembered Johnson and Amor, it also celebrated the accomplishments of the students who made it to graduation during a time when the rise in heroin overdose deaths has been labeled an epidemic.

Each of the graduates spoke, with many telling similar tales of addiction nearly ruining their lives before being rescued by the staff at Northshore Recovery.

“Even during my darkest moments, nobody turned me away,” said Andrew Desharnais, a graduate from Groveland.

Kaili Awalt of North Andover said she often had to switch homes due to her problems, “but I knew every day when I woke up that I was coming to Recovery High School.”

Many of the graduates thanked their families for supporting them through tough times. Michael Cooper of Westford said his mother drove him an hour to and from school every day.

“This whole experience has been a gift,” he said. “This is the place where I became who I am.”

Jill George of Salem was one of the first students to attend Northshore Recovery High School when it opened in 2006. She dropped out, had a daughter at age 22, then returned in 2013. She graduated yesterday, at age 25.

“Recovery High School helped me become a better mother, a better person,” she said. “Never has anybody here given up on me.”

Elijah Lavancher of Reading said he almost died due to his drug problem, but eventually returned to Northshore Recovery and has been sober for 10 months.

“I owe my life to this school,” he said.

Many of the students referred to the school as a second home and to the teachers and staff as family. “I never knew adults could care for me the way they do,” said Emily Pascucci of Billerica.

The ceremony marked the final one for Northshore Recovery in the Memorial Building, where it has been from the beginning. The school will be moving to a new location on Sohier Road in Beverly.

Executive Director Francine Rosenberg of the Northshore Education Consortium, the agency that operates Northshore Recovery, praised Beverly school officials for being “brave enough” to allow the state’s first recovery high school in their community.

Rosenberg also credited Lipinski, who has been the school’s principal from the start, for her “incredible courage, compassion and dedication.” Lipinski received a standing ovation from the more than 100 people in attendance.

As for the graduates, Rosenberg noted how they made it through “a very challenging year.”

“You have faced obstacles that many of your peers could never imagine and you’ve come out the other side,” she said.

Staff writer Paul Leighton of The Salem News reported this story.